


and we both know all the truth I could tell

by collegefangirl3791, skywalking-across-the-galaxy (BadWolfGirl01)



Category: Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars: The Clone Wars (2008) - All Media Types
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Alternate Universe - Different First Meeting, Alternate Universe - Star Wars Setting, Deserters, Enemies to Friends to Lovers, Everyone Has Issues, Everyone Is An Asshole, Everyone is angry, F/M, Idealism, Implied/Referenced Sexual Harassment, Mando'a, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder - PTSD, Referenced Slavery, Rex Hates the Jedi, Rex was never part of the 501st, Rogue Rex, Sass, Slow Burn, and everyone needs a hug, but we don't, clone culture, post-Zygerria
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-12-13
Updated: 2019-04-06
Packaged: 2019-09-17 17:47:58
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 18
Words: 127,798
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16979106
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/collegefangirl3791/pseuds/collegefangirl3791, https://archiveofourown.org/users/BadWolfGirl01/pseuds/skywalking-across-the-galaxy
Summary: Captain Rex of the 325th Battalion was sick of war and sick of his Jedi General's hypocrisy, so like any reasonable man would do, he left. The war hasn't exactly gotten better over three years, and neither have the Jedi - he hates both for what they do to his brothers.Ahsoka doesn't exactly mean to run across him and his company of forgotten clone troopers on one of Felucia's moons, and she definitely doesn't mean to stick around, but he has different ideas. Mostly, ideas that piss her the hell off.





	1. Chapter 1

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Welcome to the fic!
> 
> A few things you should know: dialogue in italics is another language, usually Mando'a. It can also indicate a comm discussion or mental conversation - it should be easy to know which.
> 
> Let us know what you think!

It's a straightforward mission.

Master Windu had commed with the information that the Separatists are building a new series of outposts on Viridian, the largest of Felucia's eight moons, and told Anakin and Ahsoka that only half the outposts are functional and it would be their job to ensure those were destroyed and the others never allowed to be completed. They've even got a location on four of the six bases they're supposed to target. Of course, those are the four _  functional _  bases, but still - once they capture a couple it should be easy to find the coordinates of the last two.

They've split the battalion in half; Anakin's taken the less-experienced troopers and left Ahsoka with Jesse and Fives.  _ There's only one outpost that we know of in the northern hemisphere, _  he'd said,  _ and intelligence suggests it's the main one. I'll go there and take it and see if we can find the coordinates for the other two bases while you, Jesse, and the boys take the ones you can. _

That's why Ahsoka finds herself slinking through a marshy jungle with some four hundred men (she'd left about a hundred to guard the first base she'd captured, which had been woefully unguarded, and ridiculously easy to take), moving into position around a walled and fortified airbase.

“You ready, Captain?” she asks, into her comm, signaling Fives up to her side.

There's a pause, and then Jesse's voice crackles through a whirl of static.  _ “On your mark, Commander.” _

There's something about this moon that makes comms a bit unreliable, they've found.

Ahsoka looks over at Fives, who has his viewfinder down and is scanning the base up ahead. “Looking good, Fives?”

Fives _  hesitates. _

That's not good.

“What's wrong?”

“It's too quiet,” he says, and she can practically _  hear _  the thoughtful frown. “Something isn't right, I think we should-”

A blaster fires. From _  above her. _

Ahsoka _  swears, _  spins and yanks her sabers out, shoving Fives back from the tree as the commando droids drop out of the branches and land, firing continuously. “Pull back!” she snaps, into her wristcomm, slicing one commando in half and ducking a series of blaster shots from another still in a tree. “It's a trap!”

The gates to the airbase creak open with a groan like a dying thing, and she doesn't have enough men, they're going to be _  overrun, _  all because she couldn't be content with one base and waiting for Anakin - and so she flips up into a low-hanging branch and Force-pulls two commandos down onto her green saber blade, taps her wristcomm. “Jesse,” she says. “Sitrep?”

_ “Bad,” _  Jesse says. Shit.  _ “Gonna try to fall back to the base we took.” _

“Good plan,” Ahsoka says, jumps out of the tree and lands on top of a crab droid about to blow Fives’ head off. She jams her sabers through the center of it, leaps off and tucks and rolls back to her feet. “I'm going to send Fives and the rest of the boys back too, see if I can't maybe cause a diversion, take some of the heat off you.”

_ “Commander,” _  Fives snaps.

“That's an _  order, _  Fives. Get moving. I'll rendezvous with you back at the base.”

She doesn't give Fives _  or _  Jesse time to argue, just sprints towards the bulk of the droid forces, Force-jumps into the center of them, and lands, spinning and cutting a swath through the clustered battle droids. “Hey, you tin-plated _  mir'osike, _  come and get me!”

It's _  easy _  to flip away, ignoring the droids’ shouts of _  Jedi! _  and _  blast her!, _  and then she's sprinting through the marsh, slipping occasionally in the loose dirt and slime and mulch, splashing through puddles of scummy water and stopping every few seconds to cut down more droids. Fortunately, it seems like her plan worked;  _ unfortunately, _  it seems like, well, her plan _  worked. _  She's got at least a full company of droids on her tail, and so it's all just blindly running, changing direction and using the trees to ambush them and trying not to slip and fall into the stagnant pools and stinking mud.

There's firmer ground ahead, on the other side of a deep, wide pond, and Ahsoka takes a chance and sprints to the edge of it before _  jumping, _  flipping in midair and landing so she can face the droids. As she'd hoped, the first several are too slow to react, and they tumble into the water and short out, crackling and hissing with electricity. The rest come to a screeching halt on the very edges of the pond, and there's a moment of silence, both sides observing each other, before the yellow-painted commander says, “Get her!”

A dozen blasters come up and fire. Ahsoka deflects them all, sends half of them back into the droids that fired them, and she's just starting to _  smirk _  when something slams into her shoulders from behind.

Her head hits the dirt _  hard, _  bits of leaf detritus sticking to her teeth and coating her tongue, and there's a _  weight _  on her back and before she can fling it away something grabs her wrists and there's cold metal and then-

And then-

The Force is _  gone, _  and the emptiness _  burns. _

Oh,  _ kriff. _

~~~

The way things used to be, campaigns never made it out to Felucia’s moons. When Rex had been looking for somewhere to set up shop, before the war got so widespread, he figured one of eight balls of dirt orbiting Felucia would be a pretty good bet. The planet was contested, but who cared about a marshy moon that had maybe three fueling stops and a trader’s outpost or two?

Apparently  _ everyone, _  today.

He’s not ignorant, he knows there’ve been Separatist forays onto the moon lately, which hasn’t exactly made him  _ comfortable, _  but Tank had interrupted his breakfast with the  _ great  _ news that there were Republic ships landing a couple miles out, so they’re all on high alert right now.

Gods-damned war’s getting too close. He used to be able to drink his morning caf in  _ peace. _  More or less.

Now Rex just has to sit by the rough little building that houses the camp kitchen with his cold caf and keep an ear out for a comm from the lookouts, if something happens. Not really what he was planning to do today, but then the war never gave a shit what  _ he _  wanted before, and it still doesn’t now. At least some things are reliable like that.

Akaan walks past him to the kitchen with his hands around a cup of water, and Rex nods at him lazily. It’s been a while since he’s seen Akaan this tense. Impending battle droids will do that to a  _ vod. _  At least he knows he probably won’t have to go far to find the wounded left after this battle, so they might save more of them this time around. Unless, of course, they are overrun by the Separatists or the Republic or both, in which case they won’t be saving  _ anyone _  and the camp he’s spent three years organizing will end up sinking in the marsh.

He’s been able to hear the sounds of battle, distantly, since Tank got him. For the past fifteen or twenty minutes, they’ve been a hell of a lot closer. He’s got to admit, it has him on edge like Akaan. It’s been a while since he’s gotten stuck in a battle - he’s managed to avoid them since the last one, when he took a squad of his  _ vode _  and got out of the gods-damned war. He’d like to keep it that way.

There’s a bit of commotion from the direction of most of the tents, and Rex glances over, expecting to just see some  _ vode _  arguing, but he gets quickly to his feet when he does, because it’s half his look-out squad, two of them grappling with an orange-skinned, wiry Togruta girl. She’s blindfolded, and yelling, and Tank and Mix have blasters pointed at her, and  _ this _  is also not what Rex was expecting from his day.

He sets his mug of caf down (gives up on it, it’s just cold and shitty now anyway) and strides over, noting with some amusement that Tank is very red-faced and there’s mud and mould all over his armor.

_ “So what the hells is this?” _  he asks, a bit amused, in Mando’a (it’s the only language they speak here, anymore, because this is  _ their _  place and no one else comes around anyway).  _ “New kinda droid? Or are they cloning Togrutas now?” _

In answer, Mix puts a hand to his belt and passes over a pair of lightsabers. Which is just karking  _ great. _

_ “The kriff are you doing, bringing a jetii back here?” _  Rex says, sharply.

_ “She was too close to the camp already. With droids on her tail. This seemed like the best idea.” _

Before Rex can answer (Mix is probably right, though,  _ haar’chak), _  the  _ jetii  _ tilts her head to one side and says, “Hang on, you’re  _ clones?” _  She stops struggling quite so much, which is vaguely helpful, anyway. Rex grits his teeth. “You didn’t need to kriffing  _ kidnap _  me.”

Wonderful. Now he’s gotta deal with  _ this,  _ and the droids are too karking close for comfort. “According to my  _ vod, _  we did. He’s usually right.”

Mix grins. Dumbass. It’s partly his fault Rex is  _ in  _ this mess. Now he’s gotta deal with a  _ jetii  _ knowing he’s out here. Which wouldn’t be so bad if Mix hadn’t already blindfolded her, so he can’t really pretend they’re legitimate, and he’s got some hundred fifty troopers out here at last count. Which wasn’t  _ terribly _  recent but oh well. He briefly considers dropping her in the marsh somewhere, that would probably solve his problems, but unfortunately he’s not informed enough right now to just get rid of her.

_ Great. _

~~~

What the  _ kriffing hells _  is going on?

Ahsoka grits her teeth, tugs a bit on the binders - she's only got a small headache right now, but she _  knows _  it'll turn into a migraine if she doesn't get these _  karking _  things off, and soon - and faces her captor, as best as she can tell. (She's blind and _  blind, _  deaf almost, she can't see and the Force is just _  gone, _  leaving a gaping hole where she's used to that sixth sense, a feel of life and light and the workings of the universe.) “Or you could've just, I dunno, let me finish scrapping those kriffing droids and go rendezvous with my men. They're going to _  freak- _  aw,  _ shit,” _  she trails off, sighing. “This is exactly like the _  last time _  I got kidnapped, Anakin's never letting me go anywhere without him again.” She's _  kriffed. _

But anyway.

She pauses for a second to gather her thoughts, and then there's a quick couple of sentences in rippling Mando'a (she recognizes the language from hearing her men using it while she was chatting with Jesse and Fives and Alpha and Beta in the barracks - well, the others too, but mainly those four), and the clone who's been talking to her huffs and says, “We dealt with the droids. You weren't where you were supposed to be, so my _  vode _  had to take you.”

He has an accent. She doesn't recognize it, but all the clones she's heard speak so far have it too. Maybe it comes from the Mando'a? It doesn't sound like they speak Basic much.

“That's _  stupid,” _  Ahsoka snaps. “How was I supposed to know there's kriffing _  off-limits _  parts on this dumb moon? I'm here on a _  campaign, _  technically nothing's off-limits. And I was _  trying _  to lead the clankers away from my men so they could retreat.”

There's a moment of silence, and then hands reach up (brushing against her montrals, and she can't help flinching just a bit, for a moment there's the heat of the Zygerrian sun and- no no, don't go there) and tug and the blindfold falls away from her eyes.  _ Finally. _

The clone she's been talking to is standing in front of her, arms crossed, intense golden eyes unimpressed and _  irritated. _  And his close-cropped hair is _  blond. _

Cool. Well, not really, since he _  kidnapped her, _  but she _  does _  have to admit he's attractive. And kriffing _  pissing her off. _

“Ah, right, sorry for interrupting your invasion, Jedi,” he says, cool and _  so _  sarcastic, kriff him. “Regardless, you _  did _  intrude on my camp. My _  vode _  made a call.”

_ Asshole. _  Ahsoka curls her lip in a sneer, glaring at him. “The Force-blocking cuffs really aren't necessary,” she snaps. “What are you anyway, a bunch of deserters?”

“No,” he says. Oh-kriffing- _ really. _  “These are _  vode _  I've saved. Not that it's your business what my mission is anyway.”

“Bantha kriffing _  shit,” _  she hisses. “I'm not _  stupid, _  and I get that saving them means getting away from the war, but you're still _  deserters. _  Because you _  deserted. _  Didn't they teach you anything?” Okay, maybe that was a little rude. She winces. “Okay, rude, Obi-Wan would scold. But he's a lot better at being _  subtly rude. _  Anyway, my _  point _  is,” where was she going with that statement again? “you aren't supposed to be here. And if -  _ when _  - my Master, who's _  Anakin Skywalker, _  by the way, finds me, you'll all be in _  so much _  trouble. You _  really _  didn't think things through when you decided to kidnap me.”

The clone looks _  furious. _  Good. She's _  not happy. _

(Obi-Wan would _  definitely _  scold.)

Before anyone can say anything else, though, there's movement from one side, and Ahsoka glances over out of the corner of her eye-

And then turns fully as far as she can,  _ staring. _  Because she _  knows _  that face, that armor. Even if one of the eyes looks like a prosthetic and the way he walks indicates one leg might be too.

_ “Echo?” _  It can't be. He- “I saw you _  die,” _  she breathes, shaken to the core. “The shuttle _  exploded, _  we all saw-”

But he- he didn't?  _ No. _

“I've got to be hallucinating,” she decides, swallowing hard. There's _  no way _  anyone could've survived that explosion. He's been dead for a _  year. _

~~~

Rex looks from the  _ jetii _  to Echo, putting the pieces together in his head. If her Master is Skywalker, then she’s probably Echo's old Commander. It’s not, strictly speaking, a glowing recommendation, although Echo has always talked about his old battalion and the  _ jetiise _  like he’d like to go back. But Rex is the one who found Echo in a Separatist lab, and he’s the one who got him out and told him he’d been there a lot longer than he thought. Echo had told him he was on an extraction mission to the Jedi prison, the Citadel, and he’d got hit in an explosion. Near as they could work out, he’d been a Separatist prisoner for a few months before Rex found him, since the Jedi left him for dead. Whatever Echo thinks about it, these days, Rex is karking  _ pissed. _

Echo looks at him, comes the rest of the way over to stand by Rex and says, in Basic, “She’s my Commander.”

“Yeah, worked that out,” Rex says. He bites back the sharp comment he  _ wants _  to make - Echo’s never really liked it when Rex has been insulting about his Jedi, which doesn’t really make sense, but Rex isn’t gonna push him on it.

“You’re  _ dead,” _  the  _ jetii _  says, shaking her head a little. Apparently removing the blindfold hasn’t helped her vision any, since Echo is clearly  _ not _  dead, which she would know had she bothered to go back and look for him before. “No one could’ve survived that explosion.” She hesitates a bit. “We mourned you for  _ months.” _

Echo smiles a bit crookedly, looking down. “Yeah, well… Here I am.”

“Fives is going to  _ freak out,” _  she says, grinning. Rex looks over at the  _ vode _  holding her - Echo talks about his old  _ ori’vode, _  about Fives, a lot. “We all missed you,” Rex doubts that, “but obviously he did the most.”

Echo nods, quickly, shifting his weight more onto his flesh leg. “Yeah, I-” He looks at Rex, and Rex half-smiles, “I miss you all too.”

Rex thinks he wouldn’t mind if he could get Echo back to his battalion. He thinks Echo would want to go - whatever the case, Echo’s always seemed a bit lost here. Rex figures if he had his  _ ori’vod,  _ it might be better for him.

The Jedi nods. “I’d hug you, but I’m kinda-” she holds up her hands demonstratively- “handcuffed right now. Which is irritating. And painful.” She looks over at Rex with a glare, which he doesn’t acknowledge. “Force-block has long-term effects.”

“I’m aware,” he says, smoothly. He is, more or less. That’s not really his  _ priority _  right now, though, and anyway, he’s hoping he won’t have to keep her around long anyway. He just has to deal with the fact that she knows that he’s out here with a hell of a lot of troopers without a good excuse (oh no, that’s right, they’re  _ deserters, _  he’d forgotten), which is easier said than done. Fekking hells.

“So it’d be  _ appreciated _  if you took them off,” she says, sharply, as if he’s gonna take orders from her in  _ his karking camp. _  She stops a little, and frowns, then says, “I’m Ahsoka Tano, by the way. Do you have a name or should I just keep calling you Asshole?”

Rex smiles a little. “Asshole is fine,  _ jetii, _  I don’t really care what you call me.”

Mix laughs, shortly, and Tank smiles. If  _ they _  start calling him “asshole” after this they’re gonna have a problem.  _ Di’kute. _

Tano shrugs. “It’s not the weirdest name I’ve heard, so whatever. Are you gonna lock me up or are we just going to stand here being rude all day? Not that it matters, but you  _ might _  want to figure out how to keep Anakin from going into “rescue first, ask questions later” mode. I don’t really want him to accidentally kill you guys.”

She thinks she’s  _ clever. _  Gods-damned  _ jetiise. _

Rex looks over at Echo, who shrugs a bit wryly, tells him,  _ “The General does tend to do that.” _

_ “Not for you, apparently,” _  Rex says, sharper than he means to, and Echo gives him a tight-lipped, disappointed  _ look. _  Whatever. “Thanks for the warning,” he says to Tano, flat. He’s tired of talking. “I’m sure we can work this out so we can all go our separate ways and you and I don’t have to talk again.” He signals his  _ vode  _ to take her away - they’ve got nowhere to actually lock her up, but they can put her under guard at least.

Echo goes with them. Rex doesn’t get  _ why. _  His  _ vod’s _  old Commander’s a karking  _ mir’osik. _

~~~

The clones (who Ahsoka would really  _ like _  to have names for, but apparently that’s just not going to happen, kriffing  _ fantastic) _  tighten their grips on Ahsoka’s arms again, propelling her in front of them towards the clustered tents nearby. From the way the one mud-covered clone eyes her, his blaster still aimed threateningly at her face, she suspects they’re expecting her to try and pull the same trick she’d used to almost break free earlier, when they made the mistake of only having one clone hold her. If it weren’t for the blindfold, or the Force-block, she would’ve got free  _ easily. _

Unfortunately, clones know how to handle Jedi, better than just about anyone except the Sith.

Most of this weird camp seems to be tents, Ahsoka notes, and she instinctively reaches to extend her awareness of the Force, to get a rough count of the population - only to be hit with a wave of nothingness and pain, her headache worsening enough that she grits her teeth.

She gives herself about twenty-four hours before the lack of the Force makes it impossible to function. That’s one day to convince the blond asshole back there to let her go, or at least take the  _ kriffing _  cuffs off. If she has to promise not to run away…

Well. She doesn’t want to do that yet. But maybe- if she can get the cuffs off, she can contact Anakin and maybe he’ll even be able to use their bond to find her.

Anakin…

He’s  _ got _  to be freaking out right now, she knows. It’s only been a month since Zygerria, and only a few months since the Trandoshans before that - and it’d been Felucia where she’d been taken the first time. And even on Zygerria they’d still had the training bond, he’d been able to know she was alright, alive, functional (mostly). But with the Force-blocking cuffs, the bond will be completely cut off, without even an awareness of where she is, how she’s doing at  _ all _  - usually he’d be able to at least feel if she’s awake or not, even with shields up, but this?

She doesn’t even  _ know _  what it’ll do to Anakin, and that scares her. Because if Anakin thinks she’s being hurt or- anything, really, he’ll bring  _ hell _  down on whoever he thinks is responsible. Like how they burned down Zygerria and Kadavo.

“So you survived the Citadel,” Ahsoka says, shaking herself out of her thoughts, glancing over at Echo, who’s walking on her left, on the other side of the clone holding her arm. “What  _ happened?” _

Echo shifts. “The Seppies dug me out of the shuttle,” he says, a bit hesitant. “I don’t- remember any of it, but I guess they stuck me in a lab somewhere, gave me these,” and he gestures at his eye and one leg, so she was right about that, “and left me in stasis, pulled strategy algorithms right from my head.” He shrugs. “Rex found me and woke me up, best we could figure it’d been four months.”

“Rex?” That must be blond asshole’s name.

Echo winces. “Kriff,” he mutters. He sighs, though, shrugs one shoulder and says, “I- understood why you didn’t come back for me. The mission comes first.”

Ahsoka presses her lips together. “It shouldn’t,” she says. “The war’s twisted the Jedi too much.”

“Yeah, well.” Echo stops, shrugs again.  _ “Shoulds _  won’t get us to the end, Commander.” He doesn’t really sound like he wants to talk anymore.

So she sighs and nods, lets the clones walk her away from the rough buildings to one of the myriad of GAR-issue tents (some of them are rougher, homespun or actual hi-tech weatherproof ones, but the majority are GAR-issue), and she doesn’t protest as they pull back the flaps and shove her inside. It’s pretty bare, just a bedroll and a battery-powered lantern, and she stumbles inside and turns and then the flaps are closing behind her.

And she’s alone, with the empty ache in her head.

Ahsoka sighs, drops to sit down on the bedroll, scuffing one foot against the dirt idly. This is so kriffing  _ stupid. _

How’d she end up here again? Oh, right. Because she tried to actually kriffing  _ help her men. _  Ironic.

She’s not alone with her thoughts for very long, which is probably a good thing, given that her thoughts aren’t exactly a  _ fun _  place to be right now - instead, there’s a brief commotion outside, and she can hear two pairs of footsteps walking away from her tent, and then, a moment later, three more approaching. There’s a rustle and then the tent flaps pull back, and Ahsoka looks up, expecting it to be Rex.

It’s not. Instead, there’s three clones, all in full armor with their helmets clipped to their belts; the first one has shaggy hair hanging into his hard, furious eyes, and the other two have scarred faces and similar angry looks.

Her instincts are  _ screaming, _  even without the Force.

“Look at you, little  _ jetii,” _  the shaggy-haired one says, eyeing her with something like scorn. She swallows, hard, forces herself to meet his eyes anyway. She didn’t flinch away from Atai Molec, she won’t from these clones. They’re  _ clones, _  after all - they (probably) won’t hurt her. Right? Oh,  _ Force. _  “Not so impressive without your sabers and your Force, are you?”

She presses her lips together, doesn’t answer. They’re just here to gloat and taunt her, probably, talking will just encourage them. She thinks.

Her head hurts. She’s reaching for the Force too much. It’s instinct.

“You’re used to being the one in charge,” the same clone continues, stepping closer, almost  _ smirking _  a bit. “How’s it feel to be  _ helpless?” _

“It’s not a new feeling,” she rasps out, almost against her will -  _ the bars of the cage burn when she touches them, the sun bakes her skin and Molec stands on the roof and _  - shaking her head a bit. “But you won’t hurt me.” She says the last sentence with more confidence than she really has.

“Oh, really?” He steps closer still, and the other two clones come around behind her, where she can’t see them, and she twists to look at them, except that means taking her eyes off the clone in front of her, and she can’t do that, so-  _ kriff. _  “Why do you think that?”

She swallows. “You’re clones, I’m a Jedi, it’s-” and she falls silent, because  _ that _  makes his eyes go  _ hard, _  dark and dangerous, and he takes another step forward. Reaches out a hand, and she  _ flinches, _  can’t help it, a part of her is bracing for a shock and the rest of her for a slap or- or- she doesn’t know.

He doesn’t touch her.

Just reaches out and grabs something, and there’s a  _ tug, _  and then he’s stepping back and- and-

In his hand is her  _ padawan braid. _

“Not much of a Jedi, are you?” He curls his lip, sneering at the beads in his hand.

No. No, he  _ can’t- _  Ahsoka lunges to her feet, only for the two clones behind her to grab her arms, holding her back. “Give that  _ back!” _  She shouts it, desperate, tries to reach out except she  _ can’t, _  she- oh,  _ hells, _  he’s going to  _ take her beads _  and she’ll never get them back and- and- “Those are  _ mine, _  you can’t-”

“Not anymore.” He grins.

No. No, no,  _ no, _  he  _ can’t. _

~~~

Rex has pulled Echo and the other  _ vod _  he had guarding Tano, Senaar, a little ways away to talk to him. They both used to be part of the same battalion, Tano’s, the 501st, and Rex figures they’ll have some idea what he can do with her. He commed his  _ vod _  Brii to come too, because Brii was 501st too - so far, he’s not liking what he’s hearing. They all  _ like _  Tano, that’s not the problem. The problem is apparently Skywalker.

Echo has informed him that if Skywalker finds them, they might have trouble talking him out of attacking them - Echo says Skywalker’s not known for being a negotiator, and even  _ Rex _  knew that, already. But Rex can’t see his way to just let Tano  _ go, _  either.

Brii comes jogging up to join them, in his spare set of clothes, sleeves rolled up and arms speckled with paint, and Rex nods at him but doesn’t say anything because Senaar is talking.

_ “If Skywalker knew she was safe, we wouldn’t have as much of a problem,” _  he says, running a hand over his short hair.  _ “As it is, he’s gonna assume the worst.” _

_ “Yeah, well how are we supposed to let him know that without giving away our location?”  _ Rex says, impatiently.

_ “I’m sure we can think of something,” _  Echo says, dryly, and Rex thinks his  _ vod _  is tired of him pointing out the problems with their suggestions. He just can’t afford to jeopardize all these  _ vode, _  especially not now.

Rex sighs.  _ “I  _ **_suppose_ ** _  we’ll have to.” _

_ “I like Commander Tano,” _  Brii says, unhelpfully.

Rex chuckles a bit and shakes his head.  _ “You like just about everybody, Brii.” _

_ “Still.” _

All of a sudden, there’s a slightly muffled shout from the tent they’re keeping Tano in, and Rex swears and turns on his heel, his  _ vode _  following him in marching over to the tent. Why can’t the  _ jetii _  just make things karking  _ simple. _

It turns out that this time, it’s not really her fault - at least, no more than it’s her fault she’s here in the first place. He swipes aside the tent flap to go in (Echo at his shoulder), to find Jet and Terra and Vin surrounding the  _ jetii. _  Which he realizes he should have  _ expected, _  but things are a bit  _ hectic _  today.

Tano glances over at him and then back at Jet, who’s turned around to give Rex a look that’s  _ almost  _ sheepish. Rex thinks Tano looks pissed, but also scared, which makes sense since Terra and Vin are holding onto her arms pretty damn tight.

“What the  _ hells,” _  Echo snaps, sharply, and reaches out to grab something out of Jet’s hand - it’s not until Echo has it that Rex realizes Jet was holding the  _ jetii’s _  padawan beads. For  _ kriff’s sake. _

_ “I can’t believe I have to say this,” _  Rex says, to Jet, tiredly, signalling for Terra and Vin to let go of Tano’s arms.  _ “But you’re not allowed anywhere near the jetii, vod. Get a karking grip.” _

Brii pushes into the tent behind Rex, and Jet crosses his arms and juts his jaw out but nods stiffly.  _ “I wasn’t gonna hurt her, Rex.” _

_ “I don’t think this is much better, dumbass. Go cool off. That applies to all of you, for kriff’s sake. I shouldn’t even have to tell you.” _  Rex glares at Jet until he and his other two  _ vode _  have shuffled their way outside. He’s gonna have to talk to them later - they’re his oldest  _ vode, _  have been with him since they left his battalion, so he can’t entirely blame them for this reaction. They’re just too angry, half the time.

Tano doesn’t look very good, she’s gone and sat down; as soon as Jet’s gone, Echo walks over and holds out the padawan beads to Tano with a little grimace on his face. “I’m sorry,” he says, and Rex sighs and crosses his arms.

What a karking  _ mess. _

Brii, at least, looks relatively content, still. Rex wonders what he was painting today; there’s even some paint in Brii’s red-tipped hair.

Tano takes her beads back, but points out, “I can’t exactly put them back on like this.” Rex wants to be annoyed, but her voice is a bit shaky, so he can’t quite manage it. “Can’t really do  _ anything.” _

Brii and Echo both look back at Rex with the same look on their faces, which is equal parts amusing and irritating. Rex suspects that if Senaar weren’t outside guarding, at the moment, he’d  _ also _  have that look on his face. What’d this  _ jetii _  even do to get his  _ vode _  to like her so much?

He sighs and rubs his forehead, frustrated. “You said something about not wanting your Master to accidentally kill us,” he says, flatly, not quite a question.

Tano swallows, visibly, and nods. “With these cuffs on, he can’t feel me through the Force, so- The last time we were kidnapped was slavers, and the time before for me it was sport hunters,” she apparently gets around, “so he’s- probably really freaked out right now. And when that happens, he tends to focus too much on saving people and not enough on the details of the situation, and Obi-Wan isn’t here. I’m not sure if Jesse and Fives can talk him down from attacking if he doesn’t know I’m at least safe.” She shrugs, staring at the padawan beads in her palm, pushing them around a bit with her thumb. “All he knows is that I said I’d make a diversion for my men, I never reported back, suddenly our training bond’s gone dormant, and he’s half a continent away.”

Echo grimaces, and Rex sighs and pinches the bridge of his nose. He doesn’t wanna  _ deal  _ with this. “So what if you contacted him?” he suggests, neutrally. He doesn’t entirely think that’s a good idea, doesn’t trust her, but maybe that’d help until he can at least figure  _ something _  out. It’s not like he wants to keep a  _ jetii _  around long-term, anyway.

~~~

This could be worse, Ahsoka supposes, pressing her beads harder into her palm. “If I gave him some details…” She shrugs. “He’d still come, of course he would, he’s my  _ Master _  and he’s not going to just leave me here. But he’d definitely be more willing to negotiate. Especially if he knows about you,” and she nods at Echo and Brii. “He and I both still have those drawings, by the way,” she adds, giving Brii as much of a smile as she can muster.

The clones had been too close. She’s still shivery.

Brii  _ lights up, _  grinning at her, and she smiles a bit more. “Really?” he says, and she laughs a bit.

“Yeah, mine’s on the wall in my room on the  _ Resolute, _  I think Anakin’s got his in his room too. After Umbara, we-” and she stops, stares down at her beads again. She should’ve been there for them.

She’s startled by Brii coming over and  _ hugging her, _  and she has to laugh, even though the thought of Umbara  _ hurts, _  because he’s  _ covered _  in paint, like always, and when he pulls back it’s all over her dress too. She gives him a  _ look _  and he just smiles angelically, like  _ I have no idea what you’re looking at me like that for. _

Rude.

Rex clears his throat, pointedly, and she grimaces and refocuses on him. “I can let you use a comm,” he says, and she frowns.

“Well, that-” She stops. “No offense, but why would he believe anything I say over a comm when he can’t feel me? With what the Zygerrians-” no no, not now, “-anyway, you could be forcing me to say stuff. It’d honestly probably worry him more. I’m  _ sorry, _  but it’s true.”

Echo nods. “She’s right,” he says, apologetically.

Rex grits his teeth, sighing. “So what’s your  _ alternate _  suggestion.” It’s not a question.

She winces. “You won’t like it.”

“Yeah, I assumed that much already. What is it.” He’s  _ so  _ stony.

Ahsoka sighs, rubs her thumb over her beads, reassuring. “If you just- let me have the Force back for a bit, even, I could use the training bond, he’d be able to  _ feel _  that I’m alright then.” She hesitates, then adds, “He should still be in the northern hemisphere with half the battalion, so he should be far enough away he can’t accurately track me through the Force. He probably wouldn’t be able to anyway, no more exactly than they could with scanners and time. And there’s a whole shitload of droids between me and where my men are right now anyway.” That base had been  _ way _  more fortified than she’d been expecting.

Rex swears, and then there’s a conversation between him, Echo, and Brii that consists entirely of him growling in Mando’a and Brii and Echo sounding- defensive, maybe? She’s not sure. Whatever they’re  _ saying _  (and she suspects it has to do with allowing her the Force), the conversation is over fairly quickly, and then Rex swears more and says, snappily,  _ “Fine.” _

Echo reaches out, quickly, and fumbles with the cuffs, pulls them off, and the Force rushes back into the void in her mind and the ever-present headache is  _ gone, _  finally, and she closes her eyes, lets her hands fall to her side and her head tilt back against the wall of the tent for a minute, letting out a breath.

_ So much better. _

She reaches up, without really thinking, affixes her beads back in place, flicking them a little with one finger, and stretches out her awareness, soaking in the warmth of all the Force-signatures around her, ignoring someone saying something in Mando’a - that’s all background, for the moment, to the  _ peace _  and  _ warmth _  of the Force-

**_SNIPS!_ **

Ahsoka winces. “Oh, yeah, he’s worried,” she says, casually, not opening her eyes, grimacing.  _ Calm down, Skyguy, I’m fine. _

_ I don’t kriffing believe you. What’s going  _ **_on,_ ** _  where are you, what happened? The men are beside themselves, Jesse commed me and said you said you’d lead the droids away and never showed back up- _

_ Yeah, yeah, I know. _  Ahsoka snorts.  _ Look, I just… apparently stumbled across a camp of, well, clones. They really don’t like Jedi, and I guess I was “trespassing”, so they took me captive and stuck Force-blocking cuffs on me. But I’m not hurt, and they aren’t going to hurt me, so please don’t rush into anything. They’re worried about me telling the GAR where they are, I think. _

_ I don’t trust them. I’m coming. _

_ Anakin, wait, _  she snaps.  _ Echo’s here. And a couple others, I think, Brii at least. _

**_What?_ **

_ So don’t attack, okay? We can figure this out without getting anyone killed. Besides, there’s a whole army between me and the base I took earlier. I tried to take a second base and walked into a trap. _

_ Good going, Snips. _  He feels distinctly amused.

_ Shut up. _

Ahsoka shakes her head, smiling to herself, and opens her eyes, says, “Well, he took that okay. I  _ think _  he’s going to listen to me and behave, he feels calmer now anyway.” She hesitates, glancing at the cuffs Echo’s still holding, then looks up at Rex and says, as calmly as she can manage, “Are you going to put those back on me or-?”

~~~

Rex thinks he’s getting a kriffing headache. He sighs, trying to ignore the way Brii is looking at him, and says, “You’re a  _prisoner,_   _jetii,_  I do actually intend to  _keep_  you here.” Lucky him. He’d rather she’d never shown up in the  _first place._  He hates this.

“Those cuffs rip away one of my  _ senses,  _ and that’s not exactly  _ comfortable,” _  she says, shortly, steady. “After about an hour I’ve got a migraine, about three hours focusing becomes pretty impossible, and after about twenty-four hours I’m incapable of functioning.”

“Not my problem,” Rex says shortly.

Brii is gaping at him, looking  _ offended. _  And worried. Gods, Rex doesn’t trust him when he gets to looking like that - his  _ vod’ika _  gets ideas into his head and when he wants something he’s kriffing  _ convincing. _  “Rex,” he protests, gesturing vaguely, and Rex gives him a  _ look _  so he shuts up. For a minute. Brii doesn’t ever shut up for long.

“Actually, it is your problem,” Tano says, still very flat. “I told Anakin you wouldn’t hurt me.”

Strictly speaking, Rex wouldn’t be - but he doesn’t think technicalities hold up to serious questioning, or lightsabers, so she has a point. “Kriff you,” he says, wearily, which makes Echo snort (although he pretends not to have). “I can’t deal with this,” he gestures vaguely at her, “today. Unless you can convince me you’re not going anywhere, the cuffs go back on.”

Brii looks more disappointed than the  _ jetii _  does. For  _ kriff’s _  sake, his dumb  _ vod’ika. _

“Well, first of all,” oh great, she’s got  _ multiple  _ things to say. Someone better just shoot him now. “You have my lightsabers. Secondly,” kill him, “I’m not kriffing going  _ anywhere _  without Echo, Brii, and whoever else you’ve got here.”

“That’s not really  _ reassuring,” _  Rex says, but he’s kriffing  _ tired. _  And whatever she thinks, if he asks Echo and Brii to make sure she doesn’t go anywhere, he knows they will. At least for a while. He can get Naas, too - Naas gets nervous about  _ jetiise, _  but he has the Force.

“And how the kriff am I  _ supposed _  to reassure you?” Tano snaps. “You’re determined that I’m going to lie no matter what.”

“You all tend to do that,” Rex says, wearily. “But  _ fine, jetii. _  No cuffs.” He looks at Brii, like  _ happy? _  and tells him and Echo,  _ “You two need to guard her. She doesn’t leave the camp, and I’m gonna send Naas to help you.” _

Brii  _ grins, _  and Rex can’t help a little smile and a shake of his head before he pushes out of the tent, repeats his orders to Senaar, and goes to comm Naas. He’s going to have to make sure none of his  _ vode _  do anything else to Tano - most of the  _ vode _  here don’t like  _ jetiise _  any more than he does.

He needs a fekking  _ drink. _

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Mando'a Translations:
> 
> vod(e): brother(s); ori'vod is big brother or best friend, vod'ika is little brother
> 
> dikut(e): idiot(s)
> 
> jetii/jetiise: Jedi, singular and plural


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Everybody's kinda angry, and things get Exciting.

Almost as soon as Rex is gone from the tent, Brii says, grinning, “Come on, Commander, I want to show you my paintings!” He looks so  _ happy _ and  _ eager _ that she can’t say no, so she stands with a snort and goes to follow him from the tent.

Before she does, though, she looks over at Echo, says, quietly, “Thanks. For getting my beads back.” She tugs lightly on her padawan beads, demonstratively.

Echo nods. “It wasn’t right of him to take them,” he says, also quiet. “Even if he- doesn’t like Jedi.”

Ahsoka smiles, turns to follow Brii, who’s already halfway out of the tent, already talking at lightspeed. “Rex lets me paint  _ all day _ if I want to,” he’s saying, beaming. “He gets kinda pissed if I draw  _ him, _ because one time I drew a caricature of him and hung it up on the door to the mess building and Mix and Jet made fun of him for  _ ages, _ but,” and he lowers his voice to a whisper, “I draw him anyway.”

Ahsoka can’t stifle the grin. “I’m sure he doesn’t  _ really _ mind,” she says, in an attempt to be reassuring, and Brii’s eyes go wide.

“I bet he  _ does,” _ he says. “Don’t tell him I draw him, okay?”

“Okay,” she says, laughing. “He doesn’t want to talk to me anyway,” and she doesn’t want to talk to  _ him, _ either, he’s an  _ asshole, _ “so your secret’s safe with me. Hey, Senaar,” she adds, glancing over at the third clone who falls in behind her. “Does he really have all of you watching me at once? I  _ said _ I wasn’t going to leave.” 

Brii gives her a  _ look, _ like  _ you should know the answer to that. _ “Obviously,” he says. “Sorry, sir, but Rex really doesn’t like or trust the Jedi, so he just assumes you’re lying.” He pauses. “I mean, we all know you aren’t, but Rex thinks all the Jedi are  _ di’kutla. _ Er, stupid.”

Ahsoka shrugs. “I mean, some of them are. Like Master Tiin.”

“Yeah,” Brii says. “But not  _ all _ of them. Rex thinks they’re all to blame for this,” and he gestures vaguely at himself, “and he wants to do something to them for that.” His eyes go round again and he very loudly says,  _ “Shit.” _

Ahsoka blinks.

Well, then. She’s almost not even  _ surprised. _

_ “Brii!” _ Senaar gives Brii a  _ look, _ rattles off a sentence in Mando’a, fast.

Brii’s face is  _ flaming _ red, and he stops walking, stares at the ground, responds.

Echo sighs and then says, “Commander,” and she turns and looks at him, “can you just- pretend you didn’t hear that?”

Ahsoka runs a hand over her face, sighs. “That’s kinda a serious thing, Echo, but-” She shrugs. “It’s not like I can do much about it right now.” She’s certainly not going to  _ forget _ it, because Rex could be a serious threat, but…

Senaar glances around, then lowers his voice and says, “Rex just has a lot of- opinions, sir. He’s not going to- he’s not  _ planning _ anything.”

Hm. Ahsoka doesn’t entirely believe that, but she’s not going to contest it. For now. So she nods, says, “Right. No harm done, Brii.”

Brii nods, rapidly, and then glances over and says, quickly, “Hi, Naas! Hi, Di’kut,” the last sentence being directed at a small, scaly red- akk dog?

Huh. Interesting.

Then Ahsoka focuses on the clone, Naas apparently, with the akk dog trotting at his heels and the Kiros bird on his shoulder, dressed  _ entirely _ in blue, his hair cut short on the sides and longer on top, and for a minute she thinks he more resembles Hondo than a clone. And-

No kriffing  _ way. _

“You’re Force-sensitive,” she blurts out, staring. “I didn’t even know that was  _ possible.” _

Naas flinches, a tiny bit, and makes a face at her. “Hi to you too.”

She blinks.

“Hi?”

“Commander, this is Naas, he’s one of my friends here,” Brii says, brightly. “Naas, this is Commander Tano, she’s the  _ best _ Jedi. Except for General Skywalker, of course.”

“Brii,” Echo says, dryly,  _ “everyone _ here is one of your friends.”

Brii flips Echo off. “Well, Naas is a  _ better _ friend.” He glares. “Better than  _ you, _ Echo, so kriff off.”

Echo just rolls his eyes. 

“Weren’t we going to look at your paintings?” Ahsoka says, mildly, and Brii nods.

“Right, yeah, come on, sir. My tent’s over here.” Brii starts off at a fast walk, bouncy, and Ahsoka grins and follows him.

So maybe this won’t be totally  _ awful. _

~~~

Rex gets his drink with Akaan, his oldest  _ vod, _ and Kyr, Akaan’s grumpy  _ vod’ika. _ Akaan is always up for a drink, which would be a problem if they didn’t ration the moonshine like hell. Akaan hasn’t really  _ relaxed  _ since they brought a Jedi into camp, but then neither has Rex, so the alcohol helps a little.

_ “Maybe if Mix had just waited a bit, she would’ve gone away and we wouldn’t be in this mess,” _ Kyr says, blankly, running a knuckle around the rim of his cup.  _ “Dumbass.” _

_ “Oh, shut up,” _ Rex huffs, rolling his eyes.  _ “Mix had to make a call, and I figure he did his best.” _

Akaan grins, takes a drink, and points at Rex.  _ “Yeah, but it still turned out shitty. Jet’s gonna karking  _ **_kill her,_ ** _ and if he doesn’t, Turner will, and then we’re really screwed.” _

_ “I told them not to go near her,” _ Rex sighs. His  _ vode _ are volatile, but they listen to him, so it should be fine.  _ Had better _ be karking fine.  _ “Jet’s a dumbass.” _

_ “So’re you.” _

_ “Shut up, Kyr.” _ Rex shakes his head, smiling a little.  _ “I don’t want her here.” _

_ “You and me both.”  _ Akaan rubs fractiously at his red hair, grimacing. He eyes his cup narrowly and the next sip he takes is small - this is all they get right now, and Akaan’s been drinking too fast.  _ “Kriffing Jedi.” _

Kyr shifts a little, taps his knuckles on the table they’re sitting at.  _ “You know, she  _ **_could_ ** _ be useful, Rex. If you’re still thinking about that idea you had.” _

_ “I’m aware,” _ he sighs.  _ “I just wanna get her out of here, Kyr, she’s a liability and I’ve got no use for a jetii hostage on top of everything else. Plus Echo wouldn’t forgive me for it.” _ He’s not gonna piss off his  _ vode _ on the off chance that he can make use of a  _ jetii _ prisoner, and anyway, Skywalker is  _ already _ a problem. He doesn’t need Skywalker actively trying to kill him and he never wanted the attention of one of the  _ jetiise’s _ most effective Generals on his men anyway. Things are shit enough when it’s all remotely civil.

_ “Yeah, fair enough,”  _ Kyr sighs.  _ “Why do you think they like her?” _

_“Hells if I know.”_ Echo’s always been defensive of his former _jetiise._ Rex doesn’t understand, even a little. Maybe she’s a good strategist, or something. He doesn’t _know,_ she’s fekking _annoying._ _“She’s probably a good fighter.”_

_ “Tank says she knocked him on his ass,”  _ Akaan chuckles.  _ “After he put the cuffs on her.” _

_ “Well, Tank’s stupid,” _ Rex retorts. Which isn’t actually true, but Tank is… reckless.

Akaan and Kyr both nod sagely, and Rex passes his cup of moonshine over to Akaan, because he’s just woefully swallowed the last of his own. Akaan lifts the cup in a lazy salute and goes back to drinking, and Rex shakes his head, amused.

The  _ jetiise _ can’t understand this, them, the  _ vode. _ They had their chances, but Rex has gotten tired of waiting for them to do something in this war besides make it  _ worse. _ His  _ vode _ still get reconditioned, and the GAR is still an army of slaves, and they still get left to die on hostile planets when they didn’t even choose this fight. When he was in training, the trainers told them that the  _ jetiise _ would be good generals. They said that they were peacekeepers. Somehow, the  _ jetiise _ are apparently  _ still _ trying to claim that title. Never mind that they’re the ones leading (or, no, sending) his  _ vode  _ into battle every  _ karking _ day.

And none of the  _ vode _ kriffing  _ chose _ this, and they lose so many and the Kaminoans told them (Rex believed them) that it was honorable to go die by the thousands. And the  _ jetiise  _ never said differently, and the Senate sure as hells never did - even Rex’s batchmates didn’t.

It’s all a big kriffing  _ joke. _ He’s sick of it.

So he wants Tano out of his camp and away from his  _ vode _ and then he can think about what he has to do. If anything. Maybe saving the  _ vode _ the  _ jetiise  _ leave behind is good enough, it just... doesn’t feel like it anymore.

~~~

Brii spends a couple of hours showing Ahsoka his paintings (of which there are a  _ lot) _ and then making her  _ pose _ so he can start a rough sketch, because  _ apparently _ it’s “been too long since I’ve drawn you, Commander, you’re fun to draw”. And of course she can’t tell Brii  _ no, _ especially not when he gets that  _ look _ on his face, so-

She lets him.

After a while, though, Echo says they’re making dinner, so she gets up and goes with him and Brii and Senaar and Naas back to the area around the rough building she’d first spoken to Rex in front of. She’s hesitant to approach, mainly because there’s a  _ lot _ of clones wandering around and most of them don’t look very happy if they look at her, eyeing her with suspicion or downright hostility - she sees the one who’d taken her beads, Jet, standing with a knot of them and laughing, and she looks away before he can see her - and there’s the fact that she’s not even sure she should be eating their food. Do they even  _ want _ her to? Are they going to let her?

Brii and Echo apparently don’t seem to care, as they escort her up to the line to get a serving, even though she tries to hang back; she lets them propel her around, is careful not to look too directly at anyone. They’re all- threats. If the way Jet and the others acted around her is any indication…

She just might end up murdered in her sleep.

She goes and sits down with Echo, Brii, Senaar, and Naas, listens to Brii’s chattering on about how he helped Naas paint his armor the other day, how he ran out of purple paint and pestered Rex until they went to one of the trading posts and got some. The stories help, make it  _ almost _ feel like she’s in the mess with her men, and soon enough she’s laughing and telling Echo about the latest stupid stunt Fives pulled, how Jesse and her pranked Anakin, except Anakin caught wind of this one, so she bailed and left Jesse to take the heat himself (Jesse had  _ not _ been very pleased). She avoids mentioning how everything’s been  _ wrong _ since Umbara and Zygerria, how the good moments have been fewer and farther between, how she was hoping this campaign would restore her and Jesse’s friendship back to what it used to be.

The back-and-forth of conversation feels  _ natural, _ like it always has, since she was a new padawan, and she can’t quite forget the hundred-plus angry clones sitting around her who hate her and are apparently maybe planning something for the Jedi, but she can push them out of her mind, for the time being.

Fives’ last stunt involved accidentally almost blowing himself up on one of their campaigns between Umbara and Zygerria, and Ahsoka has to laugh at the way Brii’s eyes go  _ so _ wide and Echo dissolves into full-blown laughter when she mimes the explosion. “He looked like a headless chicken,” she says, “all flailing around,” and she gestures demonstratively.

“If you play with grenades,” Echo says, wisely, “you’re gonna get blown up.”

“Exactly.” Ahsoka grins. “One of these days he’s gonna get himself killed, and then Jesse and Anakin and I are gonna kill him.”

Echo gives her a meaningful look.

“Oh, and I suppose Echo’ll help.”

Brii’s laughing so hard he can’t breathe, now, and she shakes her head, still grinning, takes a bite of her dinner. It’s not bad, if she’s honest. Hell of a lot better than rations, at least, which is the important part. And it’s edible.

Senaar rolls his eyes. “Fives has pretty damn good luck,” he says, quietly, although he’s grinning too. “I doubt he’ll blow himself up.”

“I dunno, he was pretty kriffing close this last time,” Ahsoka says.

They talk in a similar vein for the rest of dinner, until it's gotten late and they've long finished eating. At that point, Brii offers to take her plates to the kitchen crew, and Echo escorts her back to her tent, telling her she should get some sleep, since it's been a long day.

Ahsoka knows she won't be able to, but she smiles at him and says she will anyway.

She's right.

She tosses and turns for a while, can't seem to fall asleep, and then she's only asleep for _ maybe  _ an hour when she's jerked awake by pain and the predatory smile in Atai Molec's eyes. For a moment she doesn't know where she is, why there's no familiar Force-signatures around, and she scrambles for her sabers but they're _ gone- _

Right. She's on Viridian, in this weird clone encampment. And she's a prisoner.

She tries to slip into the calming routine of meditation, but she can't settle her mind; there's shivers running across her skin and her scars burn with the memory of agony, and she can _ feel _ Molec looking at her, and this isn't going to _ work. _ So she pushes herself upright, leaves the tent behind with a sigh, notes three shadows detaching themselves from the outer walls to follow behind her - she ignores them. Just walks to an edge of the camp, where the moonlight from the other seven moons and the reflected shine from Felucia, hanging massive in the sky, spills liquid over her skin, and then she imagines the familiar weight of her sabers in her palms, closes her eyes, breathes: in and out. Centers herself, letting the Force flow through her with every breath, and then she begins.

Slow, at first, and then faster as she finds her balance, twisting through the smooth motions, flowing like water from stance to stance, and she can almost _ hear _ the familiar humming of her sabers as she sweeps her imagined blade through the air. 

Everything's beginning to feel _ easier, _ now, less pressing, and she clings to that calm and peace, as temporary as it is, lets it soothe and dull the memory of electric shock biting sharp at her neck, of a gaze trailing across her skin like it owns her, of all the whispered words that mean  _ mine. _

~~~

During dinner, Rex tries to ignore Tano, but it doesn’t really work. Mostly because his  _ vode _ aren’t ignoring her, and everyone has an opinion that he needs to hear. Je’kai is pissed because Rex put his  _ vod’ika _ Naas on guard, Jet thinks he shouldn’t be letting Tano eat with them, and Terra sits down by him halfway through and tosses a disgusted look her way (she’s been laughing and talking to his  _ vode _ like she belongs here, the kriffing audacity), and says to Rex,  _ “You know, you could sell her.” _

Rex doesn’t really look at Terra. Terra’s always too angry, he never thinks anything  _ through. _

_ “The Seppies would pay a hell of a lot for her, I bet,” _ his  _ vod _ continues, lip curling, and Rex considers telling him that if seeing Tano here pisses him off so much, then he should just kriffing go eat by himself, but he doesn’t. Damn  _ vod _ can’t just cope like everyone else. Not that Rex really blames him, he’s just… not in the mood.  _ “Lots of other people, probably. We always need more supplies, especially lately, if you wanna keep bringing back vode.” _

Rex shrugs noncommittally and just eats his own food. He doesn’t wanna talk about this now. Sure, it’s an idea, what Terra’s said.

But that’s all it is.

_ “She’d fetch a lot of credits,”  _ Terra says, and Rex rubs his forehead and sighs sharply through his nose.

_ “Shut up, Terra. I’m not gonna start selling people just because you can’t fekking watch your temper.” _

Terra glares at him, but Rex stubbornly goes back to his meal, because the conversation is over.

The  _ jetiise _ can command slave armies all they want - Rex doesn’t want to start playing that kind of game. What good would that do anyone?

He tries to tune everyone out for the rest of dinner, although all his  _ vode _ still have things to say to him (no one’s very happy about a  _ jetii _ prisoner, but here they are), and he does promise Je’kai he won’t let Naas be around Tano by himself (Je’kai and Naas had the same bad General, and Je’kai’s jumpy). Naas’ pet akk dog, Di’kut, goes around after dinner to beg for leftovers, as usual, so Rex sets his plate down in front of the dog and gets up to go to his tent and get his datapad. He checks the HoloNet for news every day, just about, and he can still access some GAR-specific files for basic information, so he tends to check those.

The Chancellor’s all over the news again - apparently he gave some speech about peace and temperance. Rex doesn’t like him, he’s full of banthashit. Chancellor Palpatine doesn’t like the  _ jetiise, _ but it’s not much of a point in his favor, because he’s the one who keeps authorizing new troops and new war funds, and for all his talk about peace he's never been very vocal about it when it gets practical. The whole lot of the Senate are  _ hut’uunla. _ If it weren’t so important that he stay informed, Rex would never bother checking the net. But he needs to know what’s going on, especially so he can go try to get  _ vode _ that need him.

It’s  _ late _ when he sees Tano and her guards going past his tent - later than he thought, he realizes, when he checks the time. Everything’s quiet, so he supposes nothing is probably wrong, but he finds himself listening too hard for something to go wrong, so he shuts off his datapad and leaves his tent. Looking around, he sees movement nearer the edge of camp, so he trudges over, because if he just makes sure Akaan and Kyr and Mix have things under control, then he can go back to work.

Tano is doing what looks like a complicated martial form, in the moonlight, with her eyes closed, which is a new one for Rex. Akaan doesn’t look like he knows what to think, either. Rex stands by his  _ vod  _ and frowns a little, tiredly.

_ “I guess this isn’t a problem,”  _ Akaan says, almost amused.  _ “I also guess I see why she knocked Tank on his ass.” _

Rex snorts and shakes his head.  _ “Get a grip, Akaan.” _

Akaan gives him a flat look, and Rex sighs.  _ “Vod,” _ Akaan says,  _ “you’re the one that couldn’t leave it to me  _ **_and_ ** _ Kyr  _ **_and_ ** _ Mix to watch one jetii. Just go back to- well, knowing you, work. Dumbass.” _

Rex shrugs and ignores Akaan. If he wants to check up on things, he can, and Akaan can stop trying to sound like he knows anything.  _ “Dumbass yourself,”  _ he mutters.

Akaan laughs at him.

~~~

Ahsoka's paying close attention to the Force, the way it sings across her skin, strength and knowledge and reassurance all in one, so she notices when Rex comes over. Of course she does - she's vaguely familiar with his Force-signature, and then she starts hearing him talking to one of her guards, and she recognizes his voice. She waits until the conversation seems to be over, drops out of the form with a fluid ease, and turns to face where she can feel Rex standing before she opens her eyes. The Force's peace and calm still hums through her blood, lets her smile a bit, lightly, and say, “Didn't trust your brothers to watch me well enough, Rex? I told you I wasn't going anywhere.”

The clone Rex is standing by snorts. She ignores him.

“And yet here you are on the edge of camp,” Rex says, almost-  _ snarky? _

She rolls her eyes. “Oh, I'm sure you've _ never _ had nightmares and needed fresh air,” she says, as wry as she can.

“Of course not,” he says. His face never changes.

She snorts. “I'm out here because I needed space to run through my saber forms. I couldn't settle my mind, and this is easier for me than meditation. Shouldn't you be asleep? It's late.”

The guard snorts again. She's not really sure what's so funny.

“I know what time it is,” Rex says, flatly, and she shrugs.

The Force is starting to fade, already, and she grabs harder onto the calmness of it, onto the distance it puts between her and her memories, because she doesn't want to see them, not now. If Rex doesn't go away soon she'll just- go back to her forms. At least they help.

She can't _ see it. _ Not here, it's too much of a weakness when almost everyone around her is a threat.

“Don't let me bother you,” she says, casually, stretching a bit and sighing. “If I was going anywhere, I would've already stolen my sabers back from your belt and ran, I'm good enough I could probably get away. But I'm not going anywhere, so…” She wishes he'd _ leave. _

She can hear Molec's voice again.

“I know,” he says, tiredly, walks over to a stump and drops to sit on it with a heavy sigh.

He's not _ going away. _

Ahsoka watches him, for a moment, hand drifting up to rub at the scar tissue around her neck almost subconsciously - it  _ burns, _ some, and she just wants it to _ stop. _ It's been a _ month, _ she should be fine now. And Molec is _ dead. _

So she's fine.

But the memories won't leave her alone, tear out of the darkness like blaster bolts, and she _ can't  _ go back to the tent, it's too much like a cage. She shivers a bit, turns away from Rex and closes her eyes again, except instead of the Force she just sees Anakin and Obi-Wan in the arena on Zygerria, facing all those shock whips, and-

No. Not this.

She reaches for the Force more, slips back into her forms, but they're too jerky, and she can't _ do this, _ everything's messed up, and she drops back out into normal again, swears and kicks at a tuft of grass and sits down, tugging her knees to her chest and hugging them a bit.

She can't _ do this. _

~~~

The  _ jetii _ doesn't look good.

Rex wants her to go back to her tent so  _ he _ can go back to  _ his _ tent without the prickling sense of unease that needs to know  _ where she is. _ But he doesn't think that's gonna happen, with the way she's out here looking like she wants to break something. Or cry, almost.

“You should just go sleep,  _ jetii,”  _ he says, low, running a hand over his hair.

“You're funny,” she says, although he wasn't kidding. “That tent feels like a kriffing  _ cage, _ and yes, I do know what that feels like.”

Rex glances over at her, scowling a bit. The comment doesn't entirely surprise him. She'd said before she's been captured by slavers and sporthunters before (and now him, so her luck is shit), and she's got some burn scars on her neck, partly hidden by her collar, so it all makes enough sense. “Well, tents are all I've got,” he says. “Making you comfortable's not really high priority. Clearly this isn't working out for you, and I have work to do, so just go to bed.”

“Go work then,” she snaps. “I'd rather sit out here than wake up screaming.”

Rex doesn't tell her that he can't go work unless he knows for sure where she'll be because he's got to keep his men safe, make sure he knows what's going on; instead, he sighs and drops his forehead onto his hands, tired. Maybe he should just try to go anyway, but then standing up and turning around to go already has him frustrated. So he pivots back on his heel and snaps, “Well what do you want me to do about it, anyway, this doesn't make sense.”

She pushes herself impatiently to her feet, glaring at him fierce and frustrated. “I didn't  _ ask you _ to come out here and bother me, all I wanted is a little bit of  _ peace.” _ She looks like she has a lot of other things she could say to him, and her eyes are very sharp. “Have you ever worn a shock collar before?” she spits, and Rex isn't entirely sure what to think so he's very still. “Or had to sit in a cage hanging several stories above the ground and listen to someone tell you  _ in detail _ what he's going to do to you when the Queen lets him have you?” She takes half a step towards him, quick. “I think you'd find it hard to just  _ go to sleep, _ too, if you had.” She swipes roughly at her eyes, then pulls back a bit, drops back down onto the ground, and buries her face in her arms. “Leave me  _ alone.” _

Rex sits back, nonplussed, and loosely signals at his  _ vode _ to go away.

Akaan frowns at him, says,  _ “You gonna be good, vod?” _

_ “Yeah, go on and go to sleep,”  _ Rex sighs, and his three  _ vode _ hesitate a minute before starting back to their tents.

He wasn't gonna be sleeping much anyway, with her out here, so might as well give them a break. He can't  _ actually _ leave her alone, but it's probably better if it's just him than if it's all three of his _ vode. _ Maybe then they'll all get slightly more peace out of the deal.

Everything’s quiet, for a bit. Then, quiet, Tano starts talking. “It was- a mission. That went wrong. Anakin and Obi-Wan and Jesse and I, we were supposed to infiltrate the Zygerrian slave empire and find a colony of peaceful Togrutas who’d sent out a call for aid right before vanishing from their planet.”

Rex takes his vibroblade out of his gauntlet, twists it idly between his fingers. It’s something to do. She’s not talking to him, she’s just talking.

“Anakin grew up a slave,” she says, “and I was almost one when I was really little, before the Jedi found me - they shouldn’t have sent us. But we’re the best they have, I guess.”

Rex looks up, despite himself, frowning, notes what she said so he can think about it later. How little would she have been, when she went to live with the  _ jetiise? _ What kind of mission did they send her on, anyway, that she can’t sleep anymore? He looks down, goes back to fiddling with his knife, but not before Tano has looked over at him.

“Sorry,” she says. “Talking helps. Do you mind?”

He shrugs. She can do what she wants. “Not really.”

She sighs. “Obviously this isn’t the only stupid thing I have nightmares about, but it’s the most recent, it’s only been a month.” She shakes her head. “Anyway. Anakin was the slave master,” Rex thinks that must not have been a hard role for a general to play, “I played the slave - dressed up for the part and everything,” she sounds bitter, and he doesn’t blame her, “and Obi-Wan and Jesse were guards. It went fine until we were found out.

“They tried to make Anakin whip Obi-Wan, but he wouldn’t. Our droid had our sabers, so when they attacked us we fought back, and they’d already given me to the Queen, so I just put my saber to her throat. We thought it was fine. Then she laughed.” Tano shivers, and Rex thinks the  _ jetiise _ do not treat their own very well, to put her in that position. “That’s when I found out what the collar they gave me was.”

She’s quiet, and Rex feels around on the ground for a stick, starts shaving the bark off of it. He’s tired. He partly wishes she’d stop talking, it feels like too much for him to know about her, and he’d rather not. But he doesn’t say anything - what would be the point?

“They sent Obi-Wan and Jesse to some kind of mine, called it a processing facility or something. It really kriffed them both up, severe injuries and neither of them came out of it the same.

“ Anakin was the Queen's personal slave, and I was supposed to be a gift for the Prime Minister, eventually. Anakin had to follow her around and- I don't know. They stuck me in a cage hanging off the roof of the palace. He'd come visit me, Molec. Talk to me. I almost threw him off the roof once but he shocked me pretty bad. Not too much, though, for me or Anakin. Too pretty, you know, it lowers the value.”

Rex thinks this is why he can’t sell her, and Terra can kriff himself for the suggestion, while he’s thinking about it. Sentients aren’t products, that’s pretty fekking basic.

Tano sighs, and although Rex doesn’t look at her, he can hear her shifting a little. “We were there for- four days? I'm not sure, it all blurred together. I was hungry and thirsty and the cage burned during the day and froze at night, that's most of what I remember. Eventually Anakin got free and came and got me, Dooku showed up, shit happened, and we went and rescued Jesse and Obi-Wan with Master Plo. He's the Jedi who brought me to the Order,” she says, absently, and Rex nods a bit before remembering he didn’t want to be listening. “That’s it,” she says, almost listless. “Just another stupid mission in this stupid kriffing war.”

Rex leans over his knees a little and doesn’t look up from his little project. “Sorry,” he says, wearily. He doesn’t know what he thinks, really. That she shouldn’t be here, mostly, and that the  _ jetiise _ and their “no attachments” just don’t give a shit about anybody, or else why’d any of that happen - but he doesn’t really wanna think about it.

Funny how she had to sneak into a known slave empire, though, instead of just dealing with it properly. If you’re gonna go to war, might as well take care of some of the real gods-damned problems while you’re at it.

Tano sighs again, shrugging. “It is what it is, Rex.” People need to stop saying that. “We do what we must. I’ve been fighting on the front lines since a couple months into the war, I’m not exactly new to this. It’s just hard to deal with sometimes.” She gets up, contained, says, “I should go get some rest and let you get back to work.”

He gets up too, discarding the stick he was messing with and putting his knife away. “I don’t have much to do, anyway.” He stops, considering. “So you should tell me, Tano - if you’ve seen slavery and you know it, how do you justify commanding your forces?”

She flinches, swallowing, and Rex watches her face carefully. “I’m not, anymore. But there’s nothing I can do until this war is over. The Jedi- we didn’t have a choice, in fighting, but after- I’m not going to stand by and let them discard my men. My  _ family. _ I’ll- do something, I just don’t even know what I  _ can _ do. What power do we have now?”

Rex keeps his thoughts to himself, tucks his hands behind his back. There are always excuses. And she does not know what it means not to have a choice. But it’s an answer, all the same - an honest one, he thinks. “Indeed,” he says, noncommittal. He did not expect much better, and probably expected worse. It doesn’t matter, anyway.

~~~

Ahsoka is tired.

She hadn’t exactly  _ meant _ to start talking about Zygerria, but once she’d started she couldn’t stop, and she’d thought- maybe it would make Rex… not exactly  _ like _ her more, but understand her.

Not that it seems to have done much good.

She goes back to her tent, mostly ignoring Rex walking a couple paces behind her and to her left, ducks inside and curls up on her bedroll, tugs her padawan beads into her hand and pushes them around her palm, sighing. She doesn’t think she’s going to sleep much more, but that’s alright.

She’s at least a little calmer, now.

She spends the rest of the night drifting in and out of sleep and the Force, hanging onto her beads for reassurance; nothing changes when morning comes, but the Force nudges her and she can’t really ignore it. So she sighs and pushes herself to her feet, returns her beads to their proper position, and steps out of the tent, stretching a bit.

Rex is sitting outside her tent, casually typing away at a datapad; she gives him a look, for a minute, says, “You didn’t take your own advice,” lightly.

“Someone had to be keeping an eye on you,” he says, wryly, standing and tucking his datapad away.

She rolls her eyes. “Right. Because clearly I’m just  _ waiting _ for the right time to run away, even though I’ve said I won’t.” She snorts, a bit, though, shaking her head - glances around, curiously. “Do you know where Echo and Brii and them are?”

She doesn’t trust anyone else here.

Rex shrugs. “No. Breakfast, probably.”

Ahsoka nods, starts off for what Brii had called the mess building, finds out that Rex was right - Brii sees her first, had been standing with Naas and petting his Kiros bird, but when he sees her he comes hurrying over, grinning. “Hey, Commander,” he says, and she smiles.

“Hey, Brii,” she says, eyes his clothes for a minute. “You know, I think this is the least paint I’ve ever seen on you.”

He laughs. “I just haven’t had the chance to start painting yet.”

She shakes her head, amused, goes with Brii over to get some breakfast. Naas walks with them, and she smiles at him, says, “Hi, Naas.”

His Force-signature is so  _ interesting, _ she’s never felt a clone who’s Force-sensitive before.

Naas shrugs a bit. “Hi,” he says.

Echo and Senaar apparently have already gotten their breakfast, Ahsoka sees, because as soon as she fills her plate Brii bounces over to them, already chattering again - she rolls her eyes, amused, sits down and pokes at her food, studying Naas for a minute. He’d followed her over - he’s probably one of the guards assigned to her, which would make sense.

Put your Force-sensitive to guard the Jedi, they’ll have more of a chance.

“So where’d you get a Kiros bird?” Ahsoka asks, curiously, after a minute.

“I found it,” Naas says. “When we went to get some of- some  _ vode.” _

She smiles. “It’s pretty. Have you ever been to Kiros? I’ve been there, once. On a mission.”

Naas shrugs, says, “No, we don’t go to neutral planets.”

Ahsoka nods. “It’s not neutral anymore,” she says. “About a month ago, the Separatists attacked them, and after we saved them, they ended up joining the Republic. It’s a nice place, all colorful and artsy.” Brii would like it, she’s pretty sure. Naas makes a face, looks  _ annoyed, _ and she snorts, somehow isn’t surprised. “They had a pretty good reason to join the Republic, though,” she explains. “My Master and I saved them from being slaves.”

Naas grumbles. “Well. I guess that’s good.” He looks  _ annoyed. _

She covers her mouth to keep from laughing, turns diligently to her breakfast. “It was pretty good,” she says. Seeing the same annoyed look that’s usually on Rex’s face on  _ this _ small trooper doesn’t really have the same  _ intimidating _ effect. “They invited us to a party to thank us. That was pretty cool too, there isn’t really much time for parties and stuff right now.” It’s all just rushing back and forth from battlefield to battlefield, with the occasional few days of leave, mostly for medical reasons.

The month they’d gotten after Zygerria was- unprecedented. Good, though, Obi-Wan and Jesse’s injuries had taken most of that time to heal, and Ahsoka’s  _ still _ flinching at unexpected touch from people she doesn’t know.

“Who cares,” Naas mutters, crossing his arms.

She doesn’t  _ mean _ to laugh a little, but she does.  _ “I _ care, a little bit,” she says. “Rest is  _ important, _ and in something as fast-paced and stressful and- well. The 501st is a really elite battalion, so we don’t get much time off.”

Naas just looks away, and she shrugs, considers him for a minute.

“If you’re Force-sensitive…” She watches him, tilts her head to one side. “Did your Jedi ever teach you anything? Even basic shields would be  _ important _ for you to learn, to keep your mind calmer.”

Naas backs up, a bit,  _ glaring, _ and she frowns, not understanding why his Force-signature suddenly crackles with-  _ warning? _ “No, he  _ didn’t, obviously,” _ he says, almost snapping.

What?

“What do you mean, obviously?” She doesn’t  _ understand. _ “Most of the Jedi I know would  _ love _ it if they had a Force-sensitive clone to teach - we didn’t even know it was possible, you know, Master Ti is stationed on Kamino but she’d said she’s never seen any evidence of it, so…” She shrugs. “Anyway, the point was, if your Jedi didn’t teach you anything - I could. If you wanted. Just- basic control, keep you from accidentally lashing out with the Force and hurting someone, and shields, so you don’t have to deal with everyone else’s emotions all the time.”

“Jedi say us having the Force is  _ treason-” _ what the kriff? “-and  _ my _ Jedi would’ve- killed me. And no, I don’t want your help, I don’t screw up with the Force anymore.” He  _ snaps _ it, and Ahsoka can’t even  _ comprehend, _ for a minute, just  _ stares. _

“What the kriff do you  _ mean, _ we say that having the Force is treason? That’s not-” She stops, shaking her head. “Whoever told you that doesn’t know what they’re talking about.” That’s not the most pressing issue, though, so she leans forward a bit and says, carefully, “Who was your Jedi?” 

She wants to ask about  _ anymore, _ but she’s not sure that’d be smart. 

Rex is standing at Naas’ shoulder now, but she doesn’t look at him, focuses instead on Naas’ face and Force-signature. Naas shifts closer to Rex, says, “The general was Krell. But I didn’t hear that from him, the Kaminoans told us.”

Krell.

Ahsoka grits her teeth, snaps, “That _bastard._ He’s dead, you know, and good riddance.” Now she understands, a bit. “If I’d been there-” she should have been “-I would’ve killed him myself for what he did to my men.” Focusing, though, she needs to focus. “Anyway- the Kaminoans are kriffing _stupid,_ if the Jedi had any authority we would’ve shut them down ages ago, with the- _reconditioning,”_ and she spits the word out like poison, “and everything else they’ve done to the clones. So what do they karking _do_ if one of you pops up Force-sensitive, that even _Shaak Ti_ can’t sense it?”

It’s Rex who answers, sharp and short, bitter. “It’s not complicated, actually, they just kill them.”

“They  _ what,” _ she says, flat. “That’s  _ murder, _ they can’t just-” except they  _ can, _ because the clones aren’t technically recognized as  _ sentients, _ so- Kriff all this. “Once the Council finds out about this, I can  _ guarantee _ we’ll do something about it. Whether we technically have the  _ authority _ or not.”

“So you’re telling me,” Rex says, low and growling, “that your Council just  _ doesn’t know _ about something this serious.”

“Contrary to popular opinion, Jedi aren’t kriffing  _ all-knowing,” _ she snaps, “we’re just as fallible as the next sentient. We just have glowing laser swords and the ability to manipulate shit with our minds.” She curls her lip. “You think we’d just stand by and condone  _ murder of children?” _

“You have a  _ Council member _ overseeing the cadets on Kamino and reconditioning and termination are still perfectly normal, so tell me how  _ that _ isn’t  _ standing by, jetii.” _

Ahsoka pushes her breakfast to one side, gets to her feet, glaring, fierce, undeterred by the fact that Rex is  _ much _ taller than her. “You think we  _ want _ to let that shit happen? This  _ stupid kriffing war _ has drug us into politics and tangled messes with the Senate, and the GAR is its own kriffing entity, and the Jedi might’ve  _ technically _ paid for the clones - although half of us are convinced the Sith did that, because everything  _ else _ is kriffing the Sith - but we have no actual  _ control _ over them. Politics kriff things up, you should  _ know that!” _ She grits her teeth, crosses her arms again. “Being Jedi doesn’t give us an automatic license to do whatever the hells we want with no regard to the consequences, and Kamino’s  _ part of the Republic, _ moving against them as an organization would be a  _ declaration of war _ and you should know better than most what that would do.” She lifts her chin, eyes flashing, glares solid and immovable.

Rex sneers, lip curling up and baring his teeth, leaning forward just a bit. “Politics are a poor fekking excuse for letting people mistreat sentient beings.” Duh, she kriffing  _ knows that, _ did she say the Jedi Order was perfect? Karking  _ dumbass. _ “I thought your Code was  _ against _ that sort of thing, right?” Yeah, it is, that’s the  _ point. _ “But it wouldn’t be very convenient to take a stand and lose your nice army, would it. Don’t get me wrong, I get it, but why don’t you all just stop pretending you’re so fekking high and mighty and either practice what you karking preach or just stop  _ preaching?” _

“Oh, because you’re such an  _ expert _ on the Jedi and how we got into this situation in the first place,” she snarls - and then she takes a deep breath, reaches for the Force, closes her eyes and lets the anger settle. It won’t accomplish anything here. She opens her eyes, says, steadily, smoothly, “I never claimed the Jedi were perfect. Our Order is flawed, has fallen victim to complacency, and that’s how this war and the Sith were able to get such a foothold in the galaxy. It’s my hope that- that after this war is over, we’ll be able to- Well. There’s a lot that’s wrong in the galaxy, and in the Order, and maybe this war will open people’s eyes to the problems, so we can fix them.” She pauses, says, quietly, “I can promise you, we will fix the situation with the Kaminoans. I know it can’t get rid of what was done to you all in the first place, but it’s a start, isn’t it?” She shrugs, reaches for more  _ calm, _ because there’s still a low hum of anger in her veins and that  _ doesn’t help. _

Brii grins, says something very fast in Mando’a, and then switches to Basic and says, “You’re the best Commander, sir.”

She just shakes her head, shrugging a bit. “Thanks, Brii,” she says, quietly. 

And then she sits down and picks her breakfast up again. She’s still hungry.

~~~

Rex leans back, gritting his teeth hard and settling his arms behind his back, hands in fists, so he doesn’t start yelling.

_ “See, my Commander’s cool,”  _ Brii says, lightly, and Rex just barely avoids telling him to shut up. “You’re the best Commander, sir,” his  _ vod _ tells Tano, and Rex rolls his eyes a bit.

“Thanks, Brii,” she says, and Rex snorts and goes to sit down, Naas (who’s a bit too fidgety now, poor  _ vod’ika, _ Rex should’ve been paying more attention) coming with him. Di’kut plops his head down on Rex’s feet with a long sigh - supposedly, akk dogs can bond with people, or at least this one bonded with Naas, so it gets upset when Naas does.  _ Supposedly. _

“You make big promises,  _ jetii,” _ Rex says, dismissive, tired. “That  _ would _ be a start if I thought your Order would go through with it.”

She smiles, slightly, says, “You don’t have to believe it for it to be true.”

“Cute saying.” He takes a sip of his caf, grimaces a bit.

She’s quiet for a minute, eating, and he thinks she’s going to let it go, but then she says, “You know, you only have one side of the story.”

Rex snorts. “So do you.” Same for just about  _ all _ the  _ jetiise, _ that’s the  _ problem. _ Part of it, anyway.

“I know,” she says. “The difference is, I want to hear  _ your side,  _ because maybe I can do something to change things.”

“Aren’t you generous,” Rex says, tiredly.

_ “Vod,” _ Echo says, in Mando’a, a bit wry,  _ “This is  _ **_why_ ** _ we like her. She’s protective, and she listens. Why don’t you just calm down?” _

_ “Don’t karking lecture me, Echo,”  _ Rex snaps, rubbing the side of his neck.  _ “I’m not in the mood.” _

_ “You never are,” _ his  _ vod _ points out.  _ “I’m just saying, she’s not out to get you, and you’re being stupid.” _

_ “Thanks for that. Helpful.” _ Rex gets up, scrapes what’s left of his breakfast off his plate for Di’kut, and starts to march off. He’s done talking, and Tano can just go to hells.

His comm goes off before he can get far, though, and he stops, answers it with a short, sharp sigh. “What?”

_ “Rex, we have a problem.” _ It’s Tank, on look-out.  _ “Kind of a big one, actually.” _

“What?” he repeats. If kriffing  _ Skywalker _ is here-

_ “There’s droids on the move. A battalion, almost, I think. They’re not turning around, and they’re coming this way.” _

“Fekking  _ hells.” _ Rex grits his teeth, looks around. There’s  _ no way _ they can get this place dug in enough to fight off a whole battalion of droids, that’s not what it’s built for. “Get the squad back right now.”

_ “On it.” _

Rex turns back around, trying to figure out  _ what in the hells _ he’s supposed to do, and Tano is frowning at him (for that matter, so is everyone within earshot). “Something’s wrong,” she says.

“No shit,” he snaps. He has his ships, so there’s those. Or if they could pull back into the marsh, hide out there, take advantage of the terrain, then maybe- He comms Tank again.  _ “Vod, _ what kind of troops are we looking at?”

_ “They have the specialized ones in,” _ Tank says.  _ “And those kriffing crab droids.” _

“Oh, fekking  _ great.” _ Rex settles his hands on his blasters. That probably means trying to use the terrain won’t help, at this point.

“What’re we looking at, Rex?” Tano asks, short and steady, and on principle Rex wants to ignore her, but that’s  _ petty,  _ so he doesn’t. Things are a little too  _ pressing _ for that at the moment.

“We have a battalion of specialized droids incoming, apparently,” he says, projecting enough that most of the nearby  _ vode _ can hear. They all go tense and ready in an instant, he sees it - none of them has ever forgotten how. “And I don’t have the defenses to deal with them.”

She nods, slow and thoughtful, and Rex quickly barks an order in Mando’a for everyone to pass the word around and kit up. They’re gonna have to be prepared. They don’t have long, probably - if Tank commed as soon as he could see the droids, in this marsh, then they have  _ maybe _ half an hour.

“Can you evacuate?” Tano asks. Good kriffing question. “If so, you should get that process started. I’m going to need my sabers back - I can buy you guys some time to get off the surface. You’re gonna need to let me fight if you want to reduce losses.”

Rex looks around. He should have enough space, in his main freighter and the other two, to get everyone out of the way at least for a  _ bit. _ That means abandoning the camp, though, they can’t bring most of this - gods  _ damn it. _

Giving her her sabers back is something else entirely, but then again… if it comes down to it, and he gives them back, and she doesn’t help, then what’s he got to lose, anyway. There’s a  _ possibility _ she’d try to arrest him, but that’s not  _ entirely _ his concern right now, and as long as his  _ vode _ are fine he doesn’t really give a damn.

Rex gives the orders to start moving everything and everyone essential to the ships, turns to give Tano a sharp look. “You can have your lightsabers,” he says, flatly. “They’re not much help to me otherwise.” He reaches down to unhook them from his belt, holds them out to her, tight-lipped.

Tano takes them from him, quickly twirls them in her hands, and places them on her own belt, grinning brightly at him for  _ some _ reason. “They won’t know what hit them,” she says, smirking, and Rex smiles slightly, bemused.

“Hold on,” Echo says, sharply. “You’re not staying behind to fight them.”

Rex thinks if Tano wants to be crazy, she can. Then at least she’ll be off his hands. Anyway, he doubts she’ll be sticking around long.

She looks at Echo like he’s said something ridiculous, tells him, “It’s my fault the droids are here, I’ll deal with them.”

“That,” Echo says, flatly, “is  _ crazy, _ Ahsoka.”

Rex figures they can worry about that themselves, he doesn’t care what Tano does at this point as long as she doesn’t cause him problems. He’s got to figure out how to salvage as much of his  _ three years of work _ as he can manage. As long as he gets his  _ vode  _ out, it’s fine, really, but there are medical supplies and food and water to get, and he’s pretty sure they don’t have time but he tells Jet and some of his  _ vode _ who were already kitted up and who don’t have as many personal effects to try to salvage some of the better tents and the extra weaponry and emergency supplies.

Word’s going around - they need to be on the ships in fifteen standard, although Rex would prefer sooner. Tank and the look-out squad are back, Tank tells him fifteen standard should be enough, and then he goes to find Rex’s  _ vode _ who used to be in artillery units.

They’re the ones that can use rocket launchers and their heavy weaponry, which is about all Rex would want them using at this point, long-range. He’s not getting them locked into a firefight unless they can’t get off-ground.

Which, as it turns out, is a way more significant possibility than he’d hoped, because Tank had heard his plan, had nodded, and had said, “Should be fine. Unless they get here first,  _ vod _ \- we can’t be here when they do, they’ve got some heavy-duty anti-aircraft.”

So Rex is taking precautionary measures.

But he has a bad feeling about this.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Mando'a Translations:
> 
> hut'uunla: cowardly


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Get ready for fun! And more angry people, and Fives!
> 
> Leave us a comment?

They’ve got almost all the men and supplies loaded onto the ships by the time one of the clones Rex has posted on the edge of camp runs up, says, quickly, “They’re here. And they’ve got big guns.”

Ahsoka considers this, for a minute, and then says, “That shouldn’t be a problem. Just don’t take off until they’re down.”

“Makes sense,” Rex says.

She nods. “Echo,” she says, and he looks at her. “I’ll give you a signal when I’ve got the last one down, you’ll have to tell them to take off and leave the ramp down.” He’s spend the last fifteen or so minutes arguing with her (Brii helped, and Senaar too) about her staying behind, and she had to admit that getting herself killed is  _ probably _ not the smartest idea.

Echo nods. “Understood, Commander.”

The metallic clank of durasteel joints flexing gets louder, the Force thrums a warning, and Ahsoka spins, pulls her sabers and ignites them as the first blaster bolts sear out of the trees. “Go,” she snaps out, and then she  _ moves. _

They’re bringing the antiaircraft guns out right away - there’s four of them, all heavily guarded, and there’s a couple  _ destroyers, _ and she glances over her shoulder at Echo (deflects one-two-three-four blaster bolts) and says, “Droid poppers.” He nods, and she focuses again, jumps onto the back of the first crab droid and stabs her shoto through the center of it, keeps her green saber up to block blasterfire. The droid shudders and collapses under her, and she leaps off, cuts through a squad of battle droids outfitted for the swampy conditions, tucks and rolls and comes up in front of a pair of destroyers right as Echo rolls the droid poppers expertly through their shields. She grins, smirks really, slices through the useless durasteel and Force-jumps up onto the top of the antiaircraft gun and cuts through it with a quick flick of her wrists, hops down again.

One gun down, three more to go.

Someone’s got rocket launchers, she notes, absently, because there’s a shudder (she rides out the way the ground shakes beneath her feet) and a gout of flame and she notes that another of the big guns is down, smoking and flaming - good. One less thing to worry about. She waves one hand, casually, concentrates, and half the droids in front of her go tumbling into a nearby pool, and the water is too much for their circuits - she ignores the sparking, jerking limbs and takes off for the next antiaircraft gun, lunges for the commandos guarding it. They’re  _ fast _ and one makes it past her guard, a blaster bolt hits  _ hard _ in her left shoulder and she swears, twists her green saber around and decapitates the stupid kriffing thing, grabs hard onto the Force and makes the pain  _ not matter, _ grits her teeth and spins and sets into the droids again.

It’s all a rhythm of ducking and dodging, deflecting blasterfire and slicing through durasteel, letting the Force direct her path, a twist  _ here _ and turn  _ there, _ and the third gun is down and there’s just one left. The droids are almost  _ entirely _ focused on her, at this point, she thinks, and if she wasn’t as good with her sabers as she is she’d probably be dead by now, the lack of backup is- difficult. She thinks Echo is sniping some, for her, which helps, but she’s used to Jesse and Fives and the rest of the battalion at her back, so it’s-

Difficult.

But anyway.

She reaches for more of the Force, decides to make things a little easier and  _ leaps, _ Force-jumping directly over the defending droids onto the last antiaircraft gun, destroying it with a pair of swift swipes with her sabers and then flipping off. She’s of course immediately surrounded by droids, but she takes half a second to find Echo and send him a quick hand signal, sees him nod and say something into his wristcomm - he backs up onto the ramp and then up it, and she turns her attention to dismantling the droids around her, waits.

The ships take off, and she ignores the first two, pays attention to the one with the ramp down, and at the last second grabs onto the Force and  _ jumps, _ commands it to give her the strength, lands lightly on the ramp and backs up it, deflecting blasterfire as she goes.

A hand grabs her arm, yanks her inside the ship, and Rex is letting go almost before she registers it’s him, slamming a hand down on the button to close the ramp.

Ahsoka stands there, for a second, then deactivates her sabers and hooks them on her belt, leaning against the wall (she’s breathing hard - it wasn’t exactly an  _ easy _ fight) and peering down at her shoulder. “Sloppy,” she pronounces, rolls her shoulder a bit and grimaces. “I should’ve caught that.”

~~~

Rex doesn’t really know what to do, for a minute.

He’d thought Tano was just going to leave, probably without bothering about the anti-aircraft, and he'd planned for that - even when she started taking them out, he was pretty sure she'd take off and not bother about any of them and that would be that.

But she stayed, and she destroyed the anti-aircraft weaponry, and Rex doesn't really know  _ why. _ Maybe for Echo. He guesses he's grateful, maybe - and other than that? He's not sure.

“Yeah,” he says dryly. “Real sloppy, Tano.”

What the  _ hells _ does he do  _ now? _

“It  _ was,” _ she says, and Rex rolls his eyes “I wasn't paying enough attention, I should've caught the shot.” She pokes irritably at her shoulder, winces, and says, “Okay, bad idea.”

“You'll live,” Rex grunts, starts away from the ramp to head to the hold of his ship and try to figure out what to do next. He feels more than sees Tano following him.

He has some one hundred and fifty men to take care of, minimal supplies, and he’s guessing that Viridian is no longer safe for them - the Separatists are setting up shop, so the Republic will fight them for it, and it will become contested territory, like Felucia itself. That means he has to find somewhere else to take his men, to keep them safe.

But that also means that he no longer has to worry about Tano giving away their location to anyone, so he can get rid of her. He can give her back to her Master and the battalion, and he can get his  _ vode _ safe. So, as they’re walking into the hold, he turns slightly, says over his shoulder, “Tell Skywalker we need to rendezvous so he can get you back.”

“Yes sir,” Tano says, sarcastic, flipping him a loose mock salute. She stops walking a second, brow furrowing in concentration, and Rex sighs and crosses his arms. He doesn’t really know what to make of her. After a moment, she says, “He’s sending a squad to meet up with us, they’ll be here real quick.”

“Not to blow us up, I hope,” Rex says, flatly.

She rolls her eyes. “That would be just a little bit counterproductive.”

Rex shakes his head, walks into the hold, and is almost immediately surrounded by anxious  _ vode _ (and Echo going over to Tano), who all have the same question: what  _ now? _

He doesn’t know, and he admits as much.  _ “Skywalker’s coming to get Tano,” _ he explains.  _ “Then I don’t know what. We’ll find somewhere.” _

He doesn’t know  _ where _ to go, the gods-damned war is everywhere. For a while, it’s all too much, and he has trouble not snapping at his  _ vode, _ but then he settles, tells his pilots to idle in space until they get Tano off-board, gets his  _ vode _ organizing their supplies and taking an inventory. Then he takes a minute to sit down against a bulkhead and try to sort out his thoughts.

Everything’s  _ kriffed up. _ Gods-damned fekking war. And Tano. This is her fault, too - although he can’t blame her as much as he’d like to.

And now he's kriffing indebted to her because they couldn’t have got off the moon without her. Just what he needs.

Echo comes over to tell him when Tano says her battalion has sent their squad, puts them at ten standard minutes away. Rex pushes himself upright, rubs his forehead, goes over to Tano herself.

“Is Skywalker coming?” he asks. Because if Skywalker  _ himself _ is coming then Rex is taking extra precautions.

“No,” Tano says, with a snort. “He knows I can handle myself and there’s a campaign going on. Fives is leading the squad - he’s one of our ARCs.”

Rex nods, privately relieved. “When they dock,” he says, “I’m bringing them back here. Then we can both pretend this never happened.” He wants to ask if she wouldn’t say  _ anything _ about them to anyone, but then, it’s too late, and it would do no good anyway, and it’s not as if she’d  _ listen. _

“Sounds like a plan,” Ahsoka says. “Except- I’m taking whichever of my men want to go back with me.”

Rex sighs. “Whatever they want to do,” he says, tiredly. It’ll be better that way, anyways. He knows that.

~~~

When Fives’ shuttle docks, about ten minutes later, a faint tremor running through the ship beneath Ahsoka, Rex leaves the main hold behind, followed by a few of his brothers, presumably to escort Fives here. Ahsoka leans against the wall, subtly adjusting her arm some so that the burn in her shoulder doesn't hurt so much, and waits, reaching for the Force for calm.

Echo's standing next to her, and so are Brii and Senaar - she's not sure if they'll come back with her or not, but she knows Echo wants to. He's got his helmet under one arm and he's fiddling with the viewfinder almost nervously.

She puts a hand on his shoulder pauldron and smiles reassuringly.

A moment later, Rex walks back in, him and his brothers surrounding a squad of five of her men, Fives in the lead. He reaches up, tugs his helmet off, starts to look at Ahsoka herself-

And then stops.

_ “Echo,” _ he says, very fast, fumbles his helmet down to clip on his belt and almost-runs across the hold to hug Echo _ hard, _ pressing his forehead to Echo's.

Ahsoka smiles, watching them. This is _ good. _

“Tup!” Brii says, loudly, a second later, and she recognizes the distinctive teardrop paint before Brii bolts across to the rest of the squad to hug Tup. “I've missed you,  _ ori'vod, _ I've been drawing  _ so much, _ I was- able to save some of them when we evacuated, I'll show you,” and Ahsoka can't help laughing.

Her laugh makes Fives pull back from Echo and focus on her. He's _ glaring. _ “Commander Tano,” he says, very sharp, and she grimaces, knows what he's going to say, “what the _ kriffing hells _ were you thinking, running off on your own like that? You scared _ all of us.” _ He crosses his arms.

She smiles sheepishly, says, “I told you I was going to create a diversion to take the heat off you guys and let you retreat.”

“You kriffing-” Fives stops, inhales sharply. “We had it _ handled, _ sir.”

“Yeah, maybe so, but that way, I was the one taking most of the risk, not you.” Ahsoka gives him a _ look. _ “Honestly, Fives, you should've expected that.”

“I expected the orders,” he says. “I _ didn't _ expect you to just jump into the karking _ center of the army _ and run off with _ all of them _ behind you.”

She shrugs, says, lightly, “To be fair, I wasn't expecting it to work that well. But I had everything under control.”

“Sure you did. Until you got _ kidnapped.” _ Fives turns, fixes his glare on Rex, snaps out, “And _ you! _ Kriffing kidnapping our Commander for _ no reason, _ sticking her in Force-blocking cuffs-” He stops, shakes his head. “What the _ actual hells?” _

“You have her back,  _ vod, _ you can bitch about me all you want later,” Rex says wryly, and Fives curls his lip a bit.

Ahsoka tries not to laugh too much. “He's right, Fives,” she says, amused. “We better get down to the surface before Anakin freaks out again.”

“I'll bitch about who I want when I want,” Fives mutters, but he sighs and nods.  _ “Ori'vod, _ you coming?”

Echo glances at Rex and then nods, and that's when the Force shouts a warning and the ship rocks beneath her feet, sending Ahsoka stumbling into a bulkhead. “What the kriff was that?” someone says, and Ahsoka makes a face, meets Fives’ eyes.

“That,” she says, slowly, “was an explosion.”

~~~

_ “Rex.” _ It’s his pilot, on comms, and Rex grits his teeth.  _ “We have incoming fighters. I hope the jetii’s squad doesn’t mind sticking around, their ride is gone.” _

“Kriff,” Rex snaps. “Get us out of here, Shrike.”

_ “Don’t have to tell me twice.” _

The squad from the 501st doesn’t look particularly happy with this turn of events, especially not Fives, Echo’s  _ ori’vod. _ Rex doesn’t blame them.

“Didn’t you make sure you weren’t followed?” Tano says, to Fives, who grimaces.

“We thought we did,” he answers. “But we were in a bit of a hurry.” He shoots Rex another scathing look.

“Well, that doesn’t matter now, does it,” Rex says gruffly. He feels the ship hum, then there’s a jolt as they make the jump to hyperspace - Shrike and the pilots have chosen them a course, then. He’ll have to see where they’re going. Right now, it’s probably just somewhere else in neutral space.

And he’s stuck with an even bigger kriffing problem than he started with.

“Where we going, Shrike?” he asks.

_ “Away,”  _ is the wry answer.  _ “We’re headed for someplace Jaig’s been to, it’s called Akiva. Apparently it’s real remote, should give us some breathing room.” _

“Thanks,” Rex says. Then he sighs, and turns to look at the  _ jetii _ and the five too-loyal  _ vode _ that are stuck with him whether any of them likes it or not. Just  _ wonderful. _ “Welcome aboard, I guess,” he says, flat and dry.

Fives sneers, and the other  _ vode _ just start removing their helmets, most of them looking about as pissed as Fives, and Rex realizes that he’s gonna have problems with his own  _ vode  _ \- sure, none of them would hurt  _ vode, _ but there  _ will _ be fights, he’s almost sure of it.

And this is going to hamper any plans he might have been making.

_ And _ how is he supposed to find somewhere safe for his  _ vode _ when there are people here who would report them to the GAR or the  _ jetiise? _ He has so many people to protect and how he has to figure out what to do with  _ these _ people, who are not welcome and who don’t give a rat’s ass about him.

“You might as well come with me and meet the rest of my  _ vode,” _ Rex says, with a sigh, “since you’re stuck with us.”

“Great,” the one that Brii knows, what was his name, Tup, says.

“Trust me, I’m not happy about it either,” Rex snaps. He doesn’t have  _ time _ for this.

All the same, he gets the  _ vode _ and Tano situated in the hold of his ship with his  _ vode _ (who don’t look any happier with this turn of events than Fives and Tup and those others do), ignores how Fives keeps giving him warning looks while they surround Tano protectively.

Rex gets it, they hate him. He doesn’t care, they can think what they want. He has to help his own  _ vode, _ they’re the ones that need him.

Everything’s settled down by the time Shrike tells him they’ve made atmo above Akiva, and Rex is informed that Akiva is a Separatist-sympathizing planet but they’re landing a few clicks away from settled areas, in the jungle, so they should be fine.

Rex gets out his datapad, looks up information on the planet on the HoloNet - it’s hot, apparently, humid and rainy, all jungles and canyons and waterfalls. A good place to hide, he thinks, if they can avoid Separatists or temperamental locals. Maybe long-term, although really he doesn’t think he’ll be able to stay anywhere if the  _ jetiise _ know where he is.

But it’s good enough, for now. They’ll have to live on the ships, in close quarters, which is unfortunate, but it’s all they have, aside from a few tents.

As his pilots bring the ships in for a landing, Rex can see flashes of trees and jungle, then red-orange canyon walls rise up around them, rich with strata, and the ship sets down with a grinding jolt and the engines hiss.

Rex calls over his look-out squad and a few other  _ vode, _ tells them to head out and scout nearby but not to get out of sight of the ships. Then he goes outside himself (vaguely aware of Tano and her squad following him), and stands on the wet stone floor of the canyon and looks around.

Creepers and weeping trees and mosses spill over the canyon edges, although the canyon walls themselves are clear of vegetation. The sky is grey with heavy clouds, and down here it smells of moist ground and heat and flowers and smoke. It’s too hot for armor, really - hot as  _ hells, _ and wet, and Rex can tell this is going to take some getting used to.

Oh well. They were  _ trained _ for shit like this, weren’t they. Sometimes that’s useful.

~~~

Not ten standard minutes into the flight through hyperspace, Anakin reaches for Ahsoka with a worried,  _ Why aren't you back yet, is there a problem? _ She can  _ tell _ he doesn't totally believe she'll be alright, which is fair - Rex and his group of clones _ are _ hostile, although she thinks she's not exactly a prisoner anymore. Just… stuck with them.

_ I'm fine, _ she explains.  _ Some fighters followed Fives and blew up his ship, we had to make an emergency hyperspace jump to escape. I'm sure we can figure out a way to rendezvous once you've finished your campaign. _

_ It might have to wait, _ Anakin says, slowly.  _ Obi-Wan's been fighting through some pretty intense battles, apparently, and recently he put out an urgent call for reinforcements before the Council lost contact with him. They've asked me to give the Viridian campaign to Master Plo and go see what's happened. Will you be alright? _

Ahsoka smiles, although she can't push away the _ worry _ for Obi-Wan - he'll be alright, though, he's one of the best Jedi Masters in the Order, and with Anakin backing him up he'll be _ fine. Yeah, I've got Fives with me, _ she says.  _ And Alpha and Beta, Tup and Dogma, they'll keep an eye on me. _

_ Good. _ She can almost _ feel _ Anakin sighing.  _ Stay safe, and tell me the _ **_instant_ ** _ something's wrong, okay? _

_ Obviously. Go save Obi-Wan's ass, Skyguy, I'll handle myself. _

The rest of the flight is uneventful, although Ahsoka keeps a close eye on Fives and her men - there's a clear undercurrent of tension, and she's worried about fights breaking out, with how protective Fives and her squad are, and how much Rex's men hate the Jedi. If they get to arguing about the Jedi at all, she thinks it might come to blows.

Which would not exactly be helpful, given the current state of affairs.

When the ship finally lands, Ahsoka follows Rex outside, her squad behind her, takes a moment to take in their surroundings: hot, humid, jungle trees and thick undergrowth everywhere. It reminds her of Felucia, almost, only twisting canyons and less glowing trees. There's a kind of raw beauty to the place, though, and she takes a deep breath.

“I should let you know,” she says, stepping up beside Rex, staring out at the canyon around them, “I'm probably going to be stuck here a while. Obi-Wan went off the grid and Anakin was sent to find out what happened and help. So while I'm here, I figured I could help you and your men get set up, since it's mostly my fault you lost your last camp.” She looks at him out of the corner of her eye.

Rex snorts. “Yeah, it is a little. If you… wanna help, then go ahead,  _ jetii.” _

Ahsoka hums thoughtfully, nods. “I'm not sure what you need,” she says, and then tilts her head to one side and looks more directly at him. “So why do you call me _ Jedi _ all the time?” She's light, curious, probing a bit maybe. “I thought- with how important names are to you and your brothers, you wouldn't be one to rely on titles and- well, job descriptions, I guess.” She tugs on her padawan braid, thoughtfully.

“Well, you _ are _ a Jedi,” Rex says, almost amused. “And we're not friends. In case you forgot, you were a prisoner until a bit ago.”

Ahsoka snorts. “Yeah, but I don't call you _ clone, _ it's rude and disrespectful and it erases your identity. Which is something no one deserves, and it's part of why I wanted to murder Krell after what Jesse told me he did on Umbara. Took their names away, called them by their numbers, made them into kriffing  _ droids- _ That's not relevant, sorry.” She's still angry about it.

Rex sneers, baring his teeth more than anything else, says, low, “No, you were just going to call me asshole. There are other ways to take someone's identity without taking their name, anyway - but I don't think you and I should talk about this.”

Ahsoka frowns, the suspicions she's had, been mulling over for the past few hours, suddenly coming together. “You had a bad Jedi, didn't you,” she says, quietly. “One who didn't respect you.”

“I  _ said,” _ he says, cold and hard, “I don't think you and I should talk about this.”

She nods, sighing. “Alright. But for what it's worth - not much, I know - I'm sorry for whatever they did. I know it doesn't help, but- I'm still sorry. Because whatever it was, you didn't deserve it.” She sighs again, rubs at her face, turns a bit and says, “Fives, you've been scanning, what're we looking at?”

“Didn't pick up on any droids,” he says, and she pretends not to notice Rex pushing away to go talk to a group of his brothers.

She'd hit a nerve, she thinks, watching him in her peripheral vision - something about the Jedi he had. It's a clue, and she _ could _ dig at it, at the crack in his shields, but she won't. It wouldn't be _ right. _

“Planetside to Commander Tano,” Fives says, waving his hand in front of her face, and she snaps out of her thoughts.

“Sorry, what were you saying?”

He sighs. “That there's no sign of any sentients around, and I think we're safe. For now. This _ is _ a Separatist world, though, so we need to lay low.”

She nods. “Understood. You should let Rex know, I don't think he wants to talk to me right now.”

Fives _ sighs, _ dramatically. “Do I  _ have to,  _ sir?”

“Yes, Fives, he needs to know.”

Fives flips her off instead of saluting, but he goes over to where Rex is anyway.

“Sir,” someone says, quietly, and she turns to see Dogma watching her, careful. “Sir, why don't we- contact the GAR and report them? They're- deserters, right? It's procedure-”

Ahsoka shakes her head, although she smiles a bit. “You're right, Dogma, but I won't do that. Rex might only see one side of the story, but his story is still valid - and he's saving your brothers. Do you really _ want _ to turn him in?”

Dogma looks down. “No,” he mumbles. “It's just- regs…”

“I know. But some things are more important than regs, and I think- We might not agree with their opinions, but we have to respect them, right? And I'm not going to do something that'll result in all these men getting used up and thrown away like broken parts just because- because they decided they wanted a choice.” She shrugs a bit. “I'm not gonna order you not to report them. You'll have to choose that for yourself. But as for me, I'll keep their secret.”

Dogma frowns. “Are you saying I should…  _ choose _ to follow regs?” His eyes widen, and he darts a nervous glance around. “Sir, that's-”

“A new concept for you, yes,” she says wryly. “I _ am _ aware how you got your name, you know.”

Dogma… Dogma _ blushes. _

“Sir-”

“You don't _ always _ have to say sir,” she says, grinning at him like it's a secret. “I've got a name too, you know, although how I got mine is much less interesting than yours.”

_ “Commander,” _ he says, fast, “I can't possibly-” He stops, shakes his head.

“Hey,  _ vod,” _ Tup says, wandering over and putting a hand on Dogma's shoulder, “let's go take a look around, shall we?”

Dogma nods, flushing harder, and jams his helmet on his head, fast. “Yeah, I'll- see you later, Commander.”

Tup winks at her when Dogma walks away, and she grins, shaking her head. He'll loosen up eventually, she's sure.

~~~

Rex pretends to be listening very intently to a bunch of worries that Jitter is talking to him about, because then he can ignore the gods-damned  _ jetii _ and her squad where they’re still standing behind him. She can take her fekking apology and shove it up her  _ shebs, _ he doesn’t need it and he doesn’t wanna hear any of that shit from her or anybody.

She probably thinks she’s real  _ kriffing _ smart, with her ideas about him having a “bad Jedi” (like there’s another kind). Probably feeling smug as shit over it.

Well, she can go to hells, and so can her  _ dikut’la _ squad and  _ especially _ Fives, him and his glaring, like he thinks Rex has been so damn unreasonable.

Rex didn’t ask for any of them to show up, he had his own business to worry about, saving his  _ vode _ and- and maybe the other thing, doing something about the  _ jetiise, _ and they’re in his  _ way. _

Fives comes over, looking like he’d rather not even be  _ near _ Rex, tells him, “I’m  _ supposed _ to tell you that I didn’t pick up any life signs or droids on my scans. And I think we should lay low.”

Rex nods, tersely, but Fives is already turning on his heel and storming off.

Tano is talking some  _ bullshit _ about choices like she’s got any right to, and Rex gives up on his conversation, tells Jitter that it’s going to be fine, he’ll make sure everything is fine, and strides off back into his ship, fuming.

The point is that  _ all _ the fekking  _ jetiise _ screw them over, don’t respect them, and Tano’s right about one thing - her little apology doesn’t do any damn good. They need to learn, and they need to stop treating his  _ vode _ like shit, and if no one else is gonna teach them then maybe Rex really should.

He had an idea about it, once, he’s been playing with it for a while. How he could make a statement that the  _ jetiise _ and everyone else would have to listen to - he’s talked about it, some, with some of his  _ vode. _ Akaan and Kyr and a couple other  _ vode _ know the most about it, but he’d let the idea drop. He’s thought that if something happened to the  _ jetiise’s _ Temple, if it was their own fault, then people might get it. That they’re too twisted on themselves to lead a  _ war. _ But he didn’t have the resources or a practical idea and certainly no access to that Temple.

But he’s stuck with a  _ jetii, _ right now - Kyr might’ve been right, he could use her, somehow.

See how sorry she really is.

Jet comes up to him in the hold, with Terra and Turner with him, and Rex doesn’t even wanna talk to  _ him _ but he stops, focuses.

_ “Is the jetii staying?” _ Jet demands.

_ “Apparently,” _ Rex says, flat, mouth curling bitter around the word.  _ “Don’t give me shit about it, there’s not much I can do about it.” _

Jet swears, sharply, and shakes his head.  _ “You’re being  _ **_soft,_ ** _ Rex.” _

_ “I said not to give me any shit about it. I’ve got bigger worries than your damn temper, Jet. Make yourself fekking useful.” _

Jet appears to take another look at Rex, then subsides some, although he’s still scowling.  _ “Karking fine, vod. Take it easy.” _

Rex snorts, bites back a scathing response because he doesn’t really want to fight with Jet. He’s just- He has to think. Fekking hells.

“Rex!” The shout is muffled, somewhat, but it’s Tano, and he grits his teeth and turns a bit towards the open ramp of the ship. “I need you with me right now!”

He doesn’t like her tone - for two reasons, though.

The second, most pressing, is that it sounds like trouble.

Gods damn it. Rex presses down as much of his anger as he can manage and hurries back out of the ship, hands going to his blasters.

“What?” he snaps at Tano, coming to a stop next to her and planting his feet.

She points down the canyon. “Tup was scouting and he saw a  _ lot _ of probe droids. I think we're gonna have company.”

Rex barely thinks before tuning his wristcomm to the universal channel he and his  _ vode _ use.  _ “Scouting squads, back to the ships, now. Sounds like we’re gonna have incoming, Seppies, I think.” _

_ “On it, vod.” _

_ “Everyone else, defensive formations. If you don’t wanna fight, get in the ships.” _ His  _ vode _ aren’t soldiers anymore, but they all still know what to do - it doesn’t take them more than a few minutes to draw into tight companies around his three ships, Naas and Jitter and Terra and a few others pulling back into the ships.

Tano is organizing her own squad, including Tup (who’s just come back), and Rex lets her worry about that, crosses past his ships to meet his look-outs coming in.

_ “Take up positions,”  _ he orders.  _ “I don't know what's coming, might not be much.” _ He goes on comms again, tells his pilots,  _ “Go get ready to take off, if we have the space - but I'm guessing-” _

And he swears, stops, because he hears droids, looks down the canyon and sees a company of commando droids coming around their corner with a Zabrak man at their head. He's red-skinned, tall, with a pair of metal legs, holding a lightsaber hilt in one hand. Not a  _ jetii, _ though, Rex thinks -  this must be one of the Sith his  _ vode _ tell him about, the  _ dar'jetii. _

Regardless of  _ what he is, _ he's got a saber, and he isn't a friend, which means they're pretty much  _ kriffed. _ Rex draws his twin blaster pistols, Jet and Akaan falling in shoulder to shoulder with him, just as the  _ dar’jetii _ ignites his saber (red) and charges forward. The commandos surge forward, too, in a rush of clattering metal on the stone ground, and Rex only has time to shoot down a few of them before the  _ dar’jetii _ is suddenly right in the middle of them, scything his red saber through Rex’s  _ vode _ without even looking at them. Rex yells at them to  _ back off, _ and sharp, burning yellow eyes turn to look at him. The saber follows, a violent arc of scarlet, and he tries to jolt back out of the way but he’s too slow and the weapon shears through his armor and his side with equal ease (it  _ burns) _ and he suddenly can’t find his footing, or his breath, hits the ground hard (sees stars, for a minute, scrabbles for breath).

He needs to  _ get up, _ can’t breathe well enough to manage it, and he looks up and the  _ dar’jetii _ and his saber are right there and Rex thinks he’s gonna finish the job, thinks he  _ can’t _ because then what are Rex’s  _ vode _ gonna do, and the  _ dar’jetii _ smiles and lunges with his saber and there’s blinding light across Rex’s HUD.

It takes him a second to realize it hasn’t hurt him, and it’s another second before he can see anything besides  _ white _ to pick out green and yellow, which still makes no sense at all until it all  _ goes away _ and there’s Tano, small as she is, shoving the  _ dar’jetii’s _ lightsaber  _ back _ with both of hers, and Rex doesn’t even  _ know _ what he thinks, except that he hurts.

And he has to  _ get up. _

~~~

Ahsoka's on the opposite side of the defensive formation when the Sith shows up.

She recognises him - how could she _ not? _ He's the first Sith to show up in a thousand years, the one Obi-Wan killed thirteen years ago on Naboo. Darth Maul.

But he's _ dead! _ Cut in half-

She sees the pair of metal legs and it clicks. No. Oh, hells, she has to tell Obi-Wan, the Council, they have three Sith to worry about now-

Maul's saber hums, and the violent sound snaps her out of her frozen staring, and she's _ too slow _ but she shoves through the clones around her anyway, because the lurid red blade cuts through a wide arc of clones and _ no, _ she can't let this happen, she _ won't, _ and then Maul turns and looks at _ Rex _ and his saber bites through armor like it's nothing and Rex falls. Something _ screams _ that she can't let Maul kill him, that she has to protect him, and she snaps _ move! _ at the men around her, ignites her sabers and pulls on the Force and _ jumps. _

Flips through the air and lands poised on the balls of her feet and snaps her sabers out just in time to catch Maul's red one as it descends on its way to ending Rex's life, and she strains and _ pushes _ the saber back, forces her way between Rex and the Sith. “You're supposed to be _ dead,” _ she tells Maul, standing defensive with her sabers poised and ready. “Obi-Wan killed you on Naboo.”

“He did a terrible job of it,” Maul says, hums almost. He eyes her padawan beads almost derisively, says, “Do you really think you, a mere padawan, can beat me?”

Ahsoka _ snarls, _ sharp, baring her fangs, and snaps out, “I'm not letting you kill them.”

And then she lunges.

Maul isn't even _ surprised; _ he just flashes his saber down and she catches it on her shoto, scythes her green saber at his metal legs. He twists his blade to block and there's a wave of Force pushing her _ back, _ and she lets it, flows with the power and rolls to her feet and he's on top of her immediately, and it's all just humming loud and brutal in her montrals, flashes of light nearly blinding her, their blades spitting sparks where they clash, a stitch in her side and a rasp in her throat and sweat dripping into her eyes.

He's so kriffing _ good. _

And then there's the familiar sound of a rocket launcher, and she barely has time to glance away from Maul's face but she takes just a moment to look - too late to change anything - as the rocket hits one of the three ships, turns it into flame and twisted shards of metal and plastoid, and she's _ sick _ remembering Rex sending the clones who didn't want to fight into the ships.

She is not their Commander, but she shouts an order anyway: “Retreat into the canyon!” Fives is near and he hears, turns and relays the order, and she sees men running to the other ships even as she turns back to the Sith Lord and the saber burning a hot red line into her neck.

She can't hold her own.

So as soon as she sees the clones starting to fall back, she lets Maul back her up (and her arms are starting to tremble from the effort of meeting all the raw _ power _ in his attacks, every strike takes everything she has to catch and drive back, and there's sweat stinging her eyes and she's panting, short and sharp), away from the ships, and she reaches deeper into the Force for more strength, desperately.

She doesn't know where Rex is. Hopefully some of his men got him out of the way. But she can't spare the energy to worry about him now.

Maul just keeps pressing her back, his droids behind him, step by slow, inexorable step, and she doesn't know where they can go, how they can hope to survive this, she just knows that  _ somewhere _ within the maze of canyons there's somewhere to hide. She can _ feel _ it.

“You've lost, little one,” Maul says, and the Force _ shouts _ a warning, and as he drives his metal leg into her gut with all his strength, she twists her wrist and stabs the blade into the hip joint.

The durasteel foot slams into her stomach with enough force to send her flying into the canyon wall, wrenching her hand off her saber hilt, and she can't _ breathe, _ can't think, it's only instinct that allows her to throw one hand out and call for her saber, the metal casing familiar and warm in her hand.

Maul is _ snarling _ and the droids are coming closer and she needs to _ get up, Ahsoka Tano, get the kriff up, _ and she sets her hands on the rock and dirt beneath her and she can _ feel it, _ suddenly, the Force calling to her, and she closes her eyes (still can't get a breath) and something _ sings. _

There's dust and the very earth shakes and then hands are grabbing her arms and Fives is snapping, “Let's _ go, _ sir,” in her montral and _ go where? _

He tugs her to her feet and _ oh. _

There's a rough opening in the rock.

The clones are hurrying through and she lets Fives help her, although she stays at the back to deflect blaster bolts away, and then she steps through the rough-hewn door and nudges the mechanism and it grinds closed again.

She pants, hooking her sabers to her belt and leaning over her knees a bit (breathing _ hurts _ and something burns in her side, not good, but she makes that _ not matter), _ looks around a bit. They're in a dim, cavernous space, lit faintly in blue and silver, although as she moves further into the room lights come on, which is interesting, and something she'll have to wonder about when she's not feeling on the edge of collapse. Which she _ can't be, _ so she grabs onto the Force and grits her teeth and ignores Fives making increasingly more exasperated comments behind her.

Rex is sitting on the floor, leaning on one hand, face taut with pain, and she kneels next to him and says, sternly, “Upper body armor off, now.”

Fives makes a noise of protest behind her, but she ignores him, focuses on the way Rex gives her a wary look and then removes his armor, a piece at a time. Too slow, she can feel her energy ebbing away, and frustrated, she reaches for the warmth and the _ Light _ in the very air around her, feels it lend strength to her limbs, a clarity to her thoughts.

“Hold still,” she tells Rex, after he's pulled his armor off, and then she reaches out with one hand and closes her eyes.

She's not good at this. But the Light helps, augments her abilities, and she's able to knit together muscle and organ and bone, careful, until leaden exhaustion drags her out of the focus she's been clinging too with a durasteel will, and she's forced to let the healing go.

“There,” she says, hoarse, leaning back. “That should help.” She tries to push herself to her feet, only everything spins, and she just hears Fives snap out a strangled _ Commander, not again- _ before everything goes black.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Mando'a Translations:
> 
> shebs: ass
> 
> dar'jetii: not-Jedi


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> everyone is Slightly less angry, and we aren't friends but we aren't enemies either.
> 
> next chapter we cross the galaxy to see what our favorite Dynamic Duo is up to!
> 
> we'd really love to hear from you!

Tano seems dizzy and exhausted for a second before she sways and staggers and starts to fall - Fives catches her, and Rex puts a hand to his side, looks down, feels a little lost. It hurts, still, but- it doesn’t like it _was._ Confused, thoughts disordered, he pushes himself unsteadily to his feet, looks down at Tano, where Fives has laid her down, swearing to himself.

 _“She okay?”_ he asks, in Mando’a.

“Yeah,” Fives snaps, glancing back suspiciously at Rex. “She just used too much of the Force _again._ She’s gonna need pain meds, and sleep.”

“I’ll get a medic,” Rex says, tiredly, looks around at all his _vode_ huddled around the cavernous room they’re in. He should think about where they’re at, what’s next. He’s got to.

He better find Sniper.

His _vod_ is laying out supplies with short, sharp movements, talking to Naas, who’s putting a bacta patch on another _vod’s_ arm with shaky hands.

 _“Sniper,”_ Rex says, flat, _“I need painkillers.”_

 _“Why are you standing?”_ Sniper growls, looking up and curling his hands briefly into fists.

_“I guess Tano did some healing, so- It doesn’t hurt, anyway. The painkillers are for her.”_

Sniper shakes his head and reaches into his belt pouch to hand Rex a couple pills. _“Go sit the hells down, I’m gonna- I have to look at the others. Then I’m gonna make sure you’re fine.”_

Rex nods, curls his hand around the painkillers, and walks back over to Fives and Tano and the other members of her squad that have gathered around. “I've got painkillers,” he says, gruffly, and lets Fives take them from him so he can go sit down, like Sniper said.

He doesn't know what to think; he's lost brothers, today, and he has to- they have to deal with that. He sent some of them into the ships, and so his _vode_ who wanted to stay out of the war - some of them are dead, and all of them would be if Akaan hadn’t gotten the rest.

He thinks… He thinks if Tano wasn't here, he would have lost- He's not sure. So many more than he did.

It wouldn't have happened like this, before - _didn't_ happen like this before. The old general, she left or she wasn't there, and then he lost _so many,_ it kept happening. Tano _got in the way,_ and then she healed him, and he thinks it has to be a trick, or there had to be another motive besides saving him, because that's all that makes sense. That's what it was. Something else.

He should be _dead._ And he's not, and many of his _vode_ are not, because of Tano.

He doesn't _understand._

Tano isn't unconscious long, although Rex only knows she's woken up to begin with because he hears Fives telling her to _lie still, for kriff's sake,_ and Rex looks over to see she's curled in on herself and Fives is holding out the painkillers with a long-suffering air.

“What the _kriff_ were you thinking, anyway?” Fives says, which Rex thinks is a decent question. He'd like to know that, too.

“Saber wounds are shitty and that one almost killed him,” Tano rasps, which isn't really an answer. Rex leans over his knees, hisses a bit because it hurts, he shouldn't take it for granted that he's fine now. Tano grimaces, huffs, “Ow, what the kriff, that _hurts.”_

Fives looks exasperated, like this isn't even unusual. “Hells, wonder why,” he grouses. “Not like you got thrown into a wall of rock, Commander.”

“Well, yeah,” she answers, which shouldn't be amusing, “but I didn't think- Did he kick me that hard?” She puts a hand on the floor, pushes herself, wincing, upright. “I need to make sure this place is safe.”

Rex should have seen about that himself. He doesn’t even know where they _are._

“Lay _back down,”_ Fives orders, sharply, which seems like good advice - Rex finds he wants to ask her what the hells she’s doing, what she’s trying to prove.

“I’m _fine,_ Fives - I won’t do much, I just want to look around and make sure everything’s safe.” Tano doesn’t lay back down, and in fact goes to sit up further, and Fives swears.

 _“Jetii,”_ Rex says, dryly, “my medic is going to look at you. You should wait to check till he does.”

Tano huffs, impatient. “I know what’s wrong. Maul kicked me into a kriffing wall, it doesn’t take much to figure it out. My ribs hurt and I have a headache, but I’ll be alright.” She gets her feet under her (Rex rolls his eyes), pushes herself to her feet with a grimace. “I promise I’ll rest after I make sure this is safe.”

 _“Sir,”_ Fives says, reaching out to grab her upper arm. “Don’t you dare.”

“Fives,” Tano says, as if he’s being very slow, “we’re in completely unknown territory, we were just attacked by a _Sith Lord,_ and this is a Separatist planet. I can’t rest until I know we won’t be attacked here.”

Rex thinks Fives wants to say a lot of things, for a second. Instead, Fives just swears loudly, once, and says, _“Fine._ But I’m coming with you, and you’re kriffing leaning on me, and _he-”_ Fives gestures sharply at Rex, “-is going to send someone to get you when the medic is here and we’re _coming back_ so he can treat you.”

Rex nods agreement, since he doesn’t appear to have a choice.

Tano _glares._ “Bruises, two cracked ribs, one broken rib, and possibly a bit of Force burn. Do I have to have a medic look at me now?” She crosses her arms, and winces. “Oh, and my shoulder, but that’s not important.”

“The medic is for _treating_ you, you- _sir,_ ” Fives hisses.

Rex huffs to himself, vaguely amused, and tightens his arms around his knees against his chest, looking around again. He has to find out which- which _vode_ he lost. So they can say their names.

It’s been so long since he’s added any names to his list, to remember.

_Ni su'cuyi, gar kyr'adyc, ni partayli, gar darasuum._

“So he’ll stick a bacta patch on my shoulder and tell me to sleep for like fourteen hours - which isn’t an _option_ right now, by the way. I can tell _myself_ that, I don’t need a medic to.”

Rex thinks if she tried to tell _Sniper_ that, Sniper wouldn’t even bother listening, he’d just start working, whatever she thought - Rex’s medic is used to stubborn _di’kute._

“Well, fine,” Fives says, sounding like he _will_ be bringing this up again, and it’s not fine, “Let’s just go _check_ the gods-damned place, then. Echo, help me support her?”

Echo listens, of course (Rex wonders where Brii is, doesn’t know if he’s seen him, and if anything’s happened to his _vod’ika_ he doesn’t know what he’s going to do), goes over and unceremoniously fits his arm under Tano’s, who looks pissed but goes with them anyway.

Rex thinks maybe this sort of thing is, like Echo was saying, why the _vode_ with her seem to actually like her. He doesn’t really understand, though.

He wants to know who he lost, so he can say his remembrance. And he wants to get their bodies back, see if they can save anyone.

And he wants to know why the _hells_ Tano bothered with saving him at all, what she wants from him.

~~~

Ahsoka doesn't really appreciate being carted around like she's incapable, but given that about halfway into her inspection of the large room she'd started to get a bit dizzy and had to lean onto Echo's shoulder, it's probably a good thing. That doesn't make her less annoyed, though - it's the principle of the thing.

She's almost made her circuit when she sees the holocron.

It's sitting on a dusty niche in the wall, a small cube, and she pulls away from Echo to pick the cube up and turn it over in her hands. “It's a Jedi holocron,” she says, delighted. “We must be in a Jedi Temple, I didn't know there was one all the way out here.”

“So it's safe,” Fives says, and she nods.

“Yeah, we can go back over now. I'm going to see if I can open this.” She wonders what it _is._

It feels _old._ Everything does, really - she wonders just how old this Temple is.

Fives and Echo walk her back over to everyone else to sit down, and she drops cross-legged and sets the holocron on the ground in front of her, closes her eyes and reaches out to the Force-

And it _burns._

“Shit,” she mutters, pressing her hands to her temples and gritting her teeth. “Bad idea, that _hurt.”_

“I could've told you that, sir,” Fives says, and she flips a rude gesture in his general direction, doesn't open her eyes. It _hurts,_ holy kriff, and she takes a slow breath in, holds it, lets it carefully out. “You need _sleep.”_

“I guess you're right,” she admits with a sigh, slowly opening her eyes again. “I'll open it later.”

Rex's medic comes over then, puts a bacta patch on her shoulder and bandages it, sternly tells her she needs to avoid fighting for a week if possible (which she doesn't think _will_ be, given their current situation), gives her more painkillers, and vanishes again. She considers getting up to try and find the rest of her squad, but her head _does_ hurt and she really is tired.

She's not about to admit _that,_ though. She doesn't want to sleep yet.

Rex is sitting near her, knees tugged up to his chest. She looks over at him after a moment of quiet, says, “This is an old Jedi Temple, so we'll be safe here.”

He nods, says, low, “Okay.” Doesn't question her, which is nice, although surprising. She looks away from him again, sighing, stares out over the room without seeing anything, and then he speaks up, draws her attention back to him. “So do you- do this,” and he gestures at his side, “a lot?”

Ahsoka smiles a bit. “When they'll let me, if Obi-Wan isn't around,” she says. “I'm not the greatest at Force healing, that's why I couldn't heal your side all the way, but I can do some, and it's better than nothing.” She shrugs. “If they'll let me, like I said.”

Rex looks away, uncomfortable, says shortly, “Well, thanks.”

She looks away again too. “Once my head stops hurting, I'll look at the rest of your men, if- anyone needs it. And trusts me to help. I don't think I _can_ do anything else right now, though, touching the Force burns.” She's hesitant to admit such a weakness - she's afraid still that some of Rex's men, the angrier ones, will try to take advantage of her being mostly helpless - but she needs to. If she and Rex are going to survive this with as many of the people they care about intact, they need to work together.

“What do you wanna do that for?” The sharpness in his tone and the speed of his response make Ahsoka twist to look back at him again; he's staring at her, suspicious, and she frowns in confusion.

“They're hurt and I can help,” she says, tilts her head to one side and watches him curiously. She doesn't understand why he suddenly looks so _wary._

Rex scoffs, disbelieving. “Yeah, I mean- why are you helping.” His voice is _so_ flat.

She pulls back a little, says quietly, “Do you not want me to?”

“I don't know, I-” He stops, considers for a moment. “I don't understand what you're doing.”

“She's _being herself,”_ Fives snaps, fierce, and he looks like he has a lot more to say, but Ahsoka gives him a _look._

“Shut up, you kriffing _mir'osik,”_ she says lightly, with a bit of heat behind it so he knows she's being serious. “It's a reasonable question.” She turns back to Rex, says, “I just want to help in whatever way I can, and I hate seeing people hurt.” She looks away, smiles a bit. _“To be a Jedi is to be compassionate, young ones - whatever may happen in your futures, always remember that. The moment you lose your compassion is the moment you lose yourself.”_ She'd been little enough she hadn't understood the crechemaster at the time, but the words had stuck with her, especially as the war grew more inevitable. She sighs, shakes herself a bit.

She's tired.

Rex is _tense,_ tenser than a steel cable stretched to the snapping point, but he says, “Oh. Well, it's- I don't know what they'll let you do, but you can try. If you want.”

Ahsoka nods, then looks at him for a minute and says, slow, quiet, “Do you, all of you, want privacy so you can- The names. You'll be wanting to say the names. Do you want me to go away so you can do that?” It's been several months since she'd walked in on the 501st observing the remembrance, after a hard mission, and once she'd understood what was going on she'd added a few names of her own - since then, they've opened their remembering to her. But she doesn't think Rex's men will- appreciate her being here.

“You- I don't-” Rex doesn't sound like he knows what to say. “Well, they- would probably- It would be better if you did, maybe.”

She nods. “I understand. Fives will come with me, since I doubt I'm allowed to go anywhere alone,” this is said with a wry grin at Fives, “and I'll go find somewhere off this main room, and you can send someone to get us whenever you're done. Take your time, remember them.” She smiles a bit, says, “C'mon, Fives, let's go.”

She gets to her feet, clumsily, tucks the holocron in her belt pouch, and lets Fives support her as she walks over to one of the exits she'd noticed on her earlier circuit of the room. Maybe she'll sleep, now. She's tired, and what else is she going to do?

~~~

Rex doesn’t know what to do, for a moment after Tano leaves, just watches the doorway she walked through, for a second. Then he eases carefully to his feet, looks around until he spots Akaan and goes over to him, automatically tucking an arm around his stomach.

 _“Where are they going, vod?”_ Akaan asks him.

 _“They’re… She said she was going to give us time to say our names,”_ Rex says, feeling a little like everything’s off its axis.

Akaan is quiet for a second, looking just as confused as Rex feels. _“Well,”_ he says, _“that’s something.”_

 _“Elek,”_ Rex agrees, shifts a little.

(Jango Fett tells them about the Mandalorian tradition, when they’re cadets, about how they honor their dead by saying a remembrance and then listing all the names of the fallen - he tells them he thinks they’ll need it, and so after the first battle, on Geonosis, when they all lose batchmates and _vode_ and Rex doesn’t know what to do with all of it, they get together in squads and say names and numbers, and it doesn’t help but it’s better than nothing.

And then it’s a month or so later, and their new _jetii_ General comes in on him and his battalion saying their names, and she tells him not to dwell on the past, tells him he should let all his _vode_ go, and tells him to ask his _vode_ not to say the names. So they only do it for themselves, after that, private, where their general doesn’t know.)

Akaan helps Rex gather the _vode,_ and he doesn’t need to tell them what for (and that is another part of the problem). It’s Akaan who starts them off with the phrase: _“Ni su'cuyi, gar kyr'adyc, ni partayli, gar darasuum,”_ and there’s a quiet litany of voices, and Rex says his for _vode_ he saw the _dar’jetii_ kill, “Gaanur, Kot, Rib, Tuff,” and on. He doesn’t think he’ll ever stop hating the loss, it’s never anything but senseless.

Jet comes over, hooks an arm around his shoulders, presses their foreheads together for a second. _“Glad you’re not dead, dumbass,”_ he says, shortly.

 _“Yeah, I know, me too,”_ Rex answers. _“You oughta thank the jetii for that.”_

Jet curls his lip, some, shrugs. _“Don’t give me that,”_ he says, but he shrugs again, doesn’t actually appear all that pissed. Goes off without further comment to talk to Terra.

Terra still sees the war, real bad -  this isn’t good for him, Rex knows.

Everyone is quiet, right now, and that’s okay with Rex. He needs to think. He needs to- he’s not sure, everything’s kriffed up. He scoots slightly away from the huddled _vode,_ nearly runs into four other _vode_ sitting on the floor: Naas, and Brii, and Echo, and one of the _vode_ from Tano’s squad.

“Rex!” Brii says, a bit startled. “Gods, _vod,_ I’m glad you’re okay, I thought- Well, you know.”

Rex snorts, tries to figure out what they’re all doing. Naas has a hand on Di’kut, seems very focused, and Rex realizes the akk dog has a superficial blaster burn on its flank.

“You all alright?” he asks.

Brii shrugs. “I mean- yeah.”

“Shh,” Naas says, helpfully. “I’m concentrating.”

Rex chuckles, a bit, looks at the _vod_ from the 501st. “What’s your name, _vod?”_

“Alpha,” he answers, shrugging one shoulder, a bit uncomfortable. Rex thinks none of them like him, but that’s understandable, anyway. “That,” he points behind him at another brother, who’s talking quietly with someone else, “is Beta.”

Rex nods. “Well, hello,” he says, shrugs.

“Who fixed you?” It’s Naas again, eyes still shut, very serious.

“Me?” Rex smiles a little.

“Yeah.”

“Tano.”

“Oh.” Naas can do some Force healing, and Sniper’s taught him some field medicine, but Rex doesn’t think his _vod’ika_ can do anything like what Tano did, although he also thinks Naas would like to be able to. “Okay.”

Rex pats Naas’ bird, which is sitting on his shoulder, and walks a bit away to sit down against the cool stone wall of the place, tilting his head back and sighing. He still doesn’t understand. But he still glances to his left, calls over to Echo to go get his _ori’vod_ and the _jetii_ to come back.

They’re going to have to figure out what supplies they have to work with, see about getting out of here if they can. Figuring out what the _hells_ he thinks about Tano isn’t really _priority._

~~~

When Ahsoka wakes up a few hours later, the room has been transformed.

About half the uninjured the clones are asleep, some of them curled up together, very few still in armor, and the rest seem to be organizing piles of supplies, although where they got them she doesn't know. Rex is overseeing the organization, and she finds herself wondering if he's slept at all - he needs to. She didn't spend all that energy healing him just for him to push himself too hard.

No one seems to be paying all that much attention to her, and her head feels _much_ better, so Ahsoka shrugs and pulls out the holocron, sets it on the floor in front of her and adjusts her position. She's _curious._

She closes her eyes and reaches out, and she can feel the holocron lifting off the ground, the edges spinning and pulling apart from the main box, reconfiguring itself, and she opens her eyes and watches as the holocron settles back onto the floor and a projection appears in glowing blue.

It's a Jedi, a species she doesn't even _begin_ to recognise, although the cut of the robes and- armor?- is unmistakably a predecessor of current Jedi robes, and they take a deep breath and say, very grave, _“The following is an account of all known Sith battle strategies-”_

She stops listening there, reaches out to shut the holocron down, _grinning._ “Oh, that's _cool,”_ she says, cheerfully, picking the holocron up and looking closer at it. It doesn't _look_ any different from the holocrons in the Temple on Coruscant, could even be mistaken for the lightsaber-training one Anakin had made for her, but there's a feeling of _age_ to it nonetheless. “This is from the _Old Republic!”_

“What are you talking about, Commander?” Fives asks, wandering over, and she grins at him, pushes herself to her feet.

“This Temple- I knew it was old, I just didn't realize it was _this_ old,” she explains. “It's from the last war between the Sith and the Jedi, a thousand years ago - this holocron talks about Sith battle strategies.”

“What exactly _is_ a holocron?” he asks, eyeing the one in her hand suspiciously.

Oh, right, he'd been gone for ARC training during the Cad Bane incident. “It's a Jedi repository of information that can only be opened by another Jedi,” she says, tapping the box. “There's a crystal in here, that's what holds the information, and only a Force-user using the Light Side can unlock it. It's more secure than datapads. Remember when Cad Bane broke into the Temple, a few months after you joined the battalion?”

Fives frowns. “The time when the General had the idea of using walkers to board a ship and you got tortured?”

She grimaces. “That's the one. The holocron he stole had the location of every Force-sensitive child on it. He made Anakin open it for him.” She tucks her new holocron away, says, “If we'd just put that information on a datachip, it would've been a lot easier to steal.”

“Makes sense. So there was a war between the Jedi and the Sith?” Fives is curious.

Ahsoka nods. “Yeah. I don't know a lot about it, but a thousand or so years ago, before the Rule of Two all but wiped the Sith out - that's the one Master, one Apprentice rule - there was a whole Sith Empire, and it took over part of the galaxy, and the Jedi fought them. This Temple must've been inhabited back then, which is _so cool.”_ She grins, and then focuses.

There's more important stuff going on right now than cool new information, unfortunately.

So she sighs and walks over to Rex, idly looking around and counting men in familiar blue armor - everyone's here, she didn't lose anyone. Good. “What's our situation looking like?”

“Could be better. We're low on supplies, have maybe enough food for a couple days. I sent _vode_ to scout this place out, see if there's anything we can use - all my ships are gone, too.”

Ahsoka grimaces. “This Temple probably has a garden somewhere,” she says. “If we can find it, it's been empty a long time but I bet there's still food growing there. And we could hunt in the jungle, as long as we're careful and don't send too many out at once. It's not ideal, but it's doable, and we just have to last until Anakin and Obi-Wan can come.” She hums thoughtfully, says, quieter, “How many did we lose?”

“Twenty-three _vode,”_ he says, giving her a sharp look. “I couldn't send enough men out to bring them back.”

She bows her head, for a minute, nods. “I'm sorry,” she says, quietly. It is a better number than she'd feared, but for Rex and his men, who haven't been fighting on the front lines, they won't have lost _any_ in a long time. And losing _anyone_ is hard. “Maybe we can find them before we leave, after Anakin comes.”

“Maybe,” he says, shrugging.

She's quiet for a minute. “What do you need help with?” she finally asks, fiddling absently with one saber hilt.

~~~

Rex sighs, looks around at the supplies he's gathered and the men organizing them. “I don't know,” he says. “I'm waiting for my _vode_ to come back from looking around this place - but if there's a garden, somewhere, do you think you can find it?”

“The layout can't be _that_ different from the Coruscant Temple,” she says, piquing his interest. “I should be able to wander around a bit and find it, yeah.”

“Why don't we do that, then,” he says, neutrally. “That'll be useful, if we can find it.”

She nods, turns and calls, “Fives, keep an eye on everyone, and _no fighting,_ understand?” Rex snorts under his breath.

Fives turns, salutes sarcastically, and so Tano looks back at Rex and shrugs a bit, grinning. “Let's go, then.”

He shakes his head, but gestures loosely in front of them. “Lead the way, Tano. This place isn't really my area of expertise.” And it makes him nervous. But that's neither here nor there.

Tano nods and starts for one of the exits, and Rex follows her, tucking his hands behind his back comfortably. “This place is _fascinating,”_ she tells him, and Rex rolls his eyes.

“Sure,” he agrees, flat. It's weird and musty, is what it is. And there are no windows that he's seen. And it smells like dust and possibly dead people, although _that_ might just be his imagination because Kyr had suggested it.

“It's so _old,”_ Tano says, as they start down a hallway with murals painted on both walls, “and Light, but it's _different_ \- I've never been in another Temple before.” She's looking closely at the murals, which Rex had dismissed after deciding that they were mostly drawings of self-important _jetiise_ killing various monsters, which isn't really new or interesting.

“That's nice,” he mutters.

“Look at these mosaics,” Tano says, voice full of interest and excitement. She’s grinning, when he looks at her. “I think some of these are battle with the Sith.” She _stops,_ of course she does, reaches out and runs her fingers over some blue tiles. A few are missing, gaps in the color revealing dark grey stone.

Rex sighs, heavily, says, “Come _on, jetii,”_ and when she huffs and resumes walking, asks, “So, the Sith. That _dar’jetii,_ that was one of them, right?” His _vode_ have told him about Sith, which are, as he understands it, _jetiise_ that are actually honest about what they are. “They’re evil _jetiise,”_ Mix had explained it. “And they’re a _problem.”_

Tano nods, grumbles, “Yeah. Kriffing dangerous. That one killed Obi-Wan’s Master on Naboo thirteen years ago.” Sorry, fekking _hells,_ what? “Obi-Wan cut him in half, I don’t know how he’s still alive.”

“I guess that explains the metal legs,” Rex says, dryly, grimacing. “I take it you _jetiise_ aren’t really on speaking terms with them.”

Tano stops again (honestly), staring at him. “Rex, the Sith are the exact _opposite_ of everything the Jedi stand for. They use the Dark Side of the Force, they’re half the reason we _have_ so many rules, and their ultimate goals are power and to wipe our entire Order out. No, we aren’t on _speaking terms.”_

“Hm,” Rex says, considering. “That just sounds like the Senate, Tano, and ‘Dark side of the Force’ doesn’t really mean anything to me.” He half-smiles, stifles the reaction somewhat.

She _looks_ at him, goes back to walking. “The Dark is- negative emotions. Hatred, anger, fear. And passion, sometimes, too. It’s destruction and selfishness and…” She’s not really looking at him anymore, just vaguely staring at the mosaics again. “It’s so cold, like a dead star, just _ice.”_ She shivers a bit, and Rex looks away from her, sighs.

“Sounds familiar,” he says, lightly, tightens his hands together. “That saber still didn’t feel particularly _cold.”_

She snorts, quietly. “No, it’s the Force that’s cold.” Rex rolls his eyes, a bit, because he’d gotten that, thanks. Not that he _really_ gets anything about the Force. “I was- there was this planet. It had- I guess avatars of the Force on it, or literal Force gods, and the Dark one, he- possessed me. And then killed me.” What is _with_ Force users, can they just not _stay dead,_ or what? She’s lost him. “So trust me when I say the Dark is not good.” She smiles a bit at him, wry, and Rex shakes his head.

Gesturing to his side, loosely, he says, “Duly noted.” What he does _not_ say is that he isn’t entirely sure the “Light” is so great either. He’s not really in a place to say that, since she did just _heal_ him.

Tano is smiling, like she’s amused, as she takes them around a corner into another hall (this one with skylights, and artifacts of different sorts on stands along the walls), and then she says, confusing him, “Oh!”

He doesn’t really get why until he follows where she’s looking, spots the large, brown tooka cat sitting on one of the stands and batting lazily at some sort of blue urn. The cat looks over at them, flicks its over-large ears, and hops off the stand to pad over, looking completely disinterested in them and everything.

Tano bends down, holds a hand out, and the cat looks at her for a second before mewing and leaning into her hand so she can scratch its head. The _jetii_ looks positively delight by this; Rex sighs, looks around, crosses his arms. “Are you _incapable_ of focusing?”

The cat hisses at him. Cute.

Tano looks back at him, almost- is she fekking _pouting?_ “He’s _cute,”_ she says, which is the _worst_ answer he’s ever heard. “Besides, if he’s been to the garden, he can take us there.”

“What the fekking hells, _jetii,”_ Rex snaps, although Tano just closes her eyes like she’s trying to concentrate.

Why did he think coming with her was a good idea, again?

The cat sits down and starts grooming itself, lazily. Yeah, helpful.

A moment later, though, it mews, hops to its feet, and starts padding down the hall, and Tano also stands up, gives Rex a smug look. “I told you,” she says. “He knows where the garden is. All it takes is a little animal friendship.”

 _“Ne’johaa,”_ Rex mutters, rolling his eyes. “Can we just go,” he says, gesturing sarcastically after the cat. He hopes the damn thing leads them to _nowhere,_ that’d show her.

Tano more or less ignores him, just lightly goes after the cat, looking far too pleased with herself. _“Ne’johaa_ is shut up, right?”

Rex grunts. “Yeah,” he says. “So maybe you should show your comprehension by _listening.”_

She flips him off. Real clever.

“That’s not really a response befitting a _jetii,”_ Rex says, dryly. “Right?”

“Blame Anakin,” she tells him, focused on the cat leading them down the halls at a snail’s pace. “He’s the one who was teaching me how to cuss someone out in Huttese before deflecting blasterfire.”

“Wonderful,” Rex says, sarcastic. “Is he also the one that taught you to follow _cats_ around when it’s actually _important_ to find what you’re looking for?” Because they need supplies, and they need to not get lost, but of _course_ the most sensible way to do that is to follow a fekking tooka cat because she thinks it’s _cute._

~~~

Ahsoka rolls her eyes at Rex’s sarcasm, says, “No, actually, that was Obi-Wan, he’s the one who taught me animal friendship.” And she’s starting to realize that there’s really a _lot_ you can do with the less-appreciated Force powers like animal friendship. Partially because people don’t _expect_ it.

The tooka meows, suddenly stopping and jumping up on a door, and Ahsoka smiles at him, goes over to the keypad, settles her hand on it. It’s long dead, and she frowns at it for a moment, says, “Bad news, the lock’s dead. Good news, if I just…” and she trails off, focusing, closes her eyes and reaches out into the wires, the way Anakin had taught her to, nudges the Force and _pushes_ a jolt of electricity into the wires, restarting the current for long enough she can persuade the door open with a bit more Force.

When she opens her eyes, the door’s receded into the wall, and the tooka cat starts off through the door again, waving his tail a bit.

“Well, at least _that’s_ useful,” Rex mutters, and she snorts.

“Anakin’s been a mechanic since he was old enough to build things,” she explains, starting after the tooka again. “So he’s showed me a few tricks over the years that’re really handy for keeping ships from crashing - not that you’d know, he crashes ships all the time _anyway_ \- and for repairing them, and for reprogramming all the protocol droids in the Temple to only speak Huttese.”

“Well, sounds handy, anyway,” Rex says after a minute, and she grins.

“It is- hang on, shh,” and she tilts her head to one side, listening. There’s a faint trickling sound, coming from up ahead, around the corner. “I think I hear running water.”

“That would be good.” He actually sounds _pleased_ this time.

She nods. “I bet the sprinkler system in the garden’s still working. It isn’t _ideal,_ but it probably runs off collected rainwater, so it’ll be drinkable, and we should be able to jerry-rig a way to collect more, fill buckets and stuff.” The tooka turns the corner and she follows, and sure enough, directly ahead is a door with warm, green-gold light glowing around the edges. It opens as the tooka walks up, and the cat proceeds to sit in the doorway, meow once, loudly, and then resume grooming himself.

She giggles, pats the cat on the head a couple times (making him purr), and then steps through the door and takes a deep breath.

The artificial sun still works, and she was right - the sprinkler system’s recently shut off, given by the way there’s still water dripping from the artificial sky. The air is rich and heavy with moisture and the smell of flowers and herbs and spices, and Ahsoka takes a few steps into the garden and sees potatoes and some kind of leafy plant and an apple tree, all jumbled together; there’s what looks like a grapevine climbing the wall nearly all the way to the ceiling, a riot of colorful wildflowers beneath her boots, and a giant tree towering over half the garden, its upper branches pressing into the artificial blue sky.

“Well,” she says, lightly, “we certainly aren’t going to starve, Echo and Tup can both cook.”

It’s lost the order the Jedi would’ve maintained, everything’s grown together and over itself, running wild, and Ahsoka thinks there’s something beautiful about the chaos of it all; she closes her eyes and takes another long, slow breath in, smiles. “It’s nice in here.”

Rex laughs, a little bit, says, “Yeah, I’m just glad we found food.”

She nods. “I’ll have to have Echo come look around, he’ll know better than I do what he needs from in here. I’m… not a good cook. Jesse doesn’t even let me make rations,” and she winces a bit. _“Apparently_ they aren’t edible, if I make them, which is stupid because rations are barely edible _normally,_ so I don’t see what difference it makes. But anyway.”

“That’s a real feat, ruining rations. How do you manage?” Rex asks, and she gives him a _look._

“Shut _up,_ they aren’t _ruined,”_ she grumbles, huffily. “They’re still _edible._ Usually.” There was that one time when even _Hardcase_ refused them, but that was also _after_ a microquake knocked them into the mud and got dirt into _everything,_ so nothing was really edible. They’d all chosen to just go hungry that night.

That mud had been… suspicious.

“I’ll let me _vode_ do the cooking, I think,” Rex says, straightfaced, and she rolls her eyes.

“Yeah, that’s what I was _suggesting,”_ she says, crossing her arms and grumbling, and then she turns and starts back for the main camp. “I better make sure Fives is _actually_ behaving, he can be… well.” She’s not really sure what word to use. “He’s protective of Anakin and I. And impulsive.”

As she passes the cat in the door, he stands up and trots up to her, following at her heels, and she snorts. “Look, Rex, the cat likes me.”

Rex _sighs._ “It’d be the only one.”

 _“Hey!”_ Ahsoka stops, turns to glare at him. “Don’t be an asshole.” _Uncalled for,_ honestly, she’s been being _nice._ Stupid kriffing _idiot._ She mutters a phrase in Huttese under her breath, turns and starts walking again, slightly ahead of him, chin lifted. “There are _plenty_ of people who like me, partially because I’m _actually_ nice. You’re just- one of those stupid _sea urchins_ Barriss saw on that one nature documentary, all _stabby_ and stupid. And boring.”

Rex has the audacity to _laugh._ “Oh, well, is _that_ all,” he says, and she blinks.

“Do you _want_ me to find something worse to call you? I’m sure I can think of something, it’s not hard,” she says.

“Well, you already said you were going to call me ‘asshole,’ so if you want to try to be more creative I’m not going to stop you,” and his voice is dust-dry, amused.

She huffs a bit. “I _did_ call you asshole, until I learned your name, at which point I decided to be _polite_ and use it.” Honestly, would he _rather_ she called him something insulting? “I’m sure Fives would _love_ to just call you ‘asshole,’ though.”

“Oh, no, I noticed,” Rex says, _dripping_ sarcasm. “Wonder why.”

“I told you,” Ahsoka says, wryly, “the last time I was kidnapped I was enslaved, so he’s just a bit… jumpy. And he probably doesn’t understand why you stopped fighting, and so it’s really not a surprise that he’s angry. He’d be _more_ angry if you hadn’t saved Echo, I think, but- Echo helps. They balance each other out.” Fives hasn’t left Echo’s side except once or twice since they’d attempted a rendezvous, Ahsoka’s noticed. She doesn’t blame him.

“Yeah, _ori’vode_ do that,” he says, and then sighs. “He can be pissed if he wants.”

She nods. Hesitates, then asks, very carefully, “You don’t- have one here, do you? An _ori’vod._ What- happened to yours?” A pause, and then she adds, “You don’t- have to say anything, obviously. I’m just… curious, I guess.”

Rex shrugs. “Not everyone has a _vod_ they’re that close with. I don’t.”

She looks at his face, for a long minute, and thinks he’s lying.

But she decides not to push.

So she just goes quiet, walks the rest of the way back to their camp in silence, the cat trotting at her heels, and when they get back she lets Rex worry about organizing the cooking, and she goes and finds her squad and starts checking them over. She hasn’t seen any of them besides Fives and Echo since the fight, so now she takes the time to sit and talk. Tup’s been shot in the leg - the medic, Sniper, already came by and treated him, though - and Dogma’s got a minor concussion, but other than that, they’re all in good shape.

She’s thankful for that. It could’ve gone so much more wrong.

But they’re safe, for now.

Things could be so much worse.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Mando'a Translations:
> 
> Ni su'cuyi, gar kyr'adyc, ni partayli, gar darasuum.: phrase to open a daily remembrance of the dead, followed by the names of the dead; "I am alive, you are dead. I remember you, so you are eternal."
> 
> mir'osik: shitbrain
> 
> elek: yes ('lek is yeah)


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Cody and Obi-Wan make bad decisions, and Ahsoka and Rex continue to get to know each other.

As far as bad campaigns go, this has to be one of Cody's worst, which is saying quite a lot, these days. Not a man in his whole battalion has been completely dry or had enough to eat in days, what with all the mud and the storms and the fact that they're pinned down without supplies in enemy-occupied territory. Nearly everyone's got what Scratch is calling trench foot, and most of them are getting  _ sick _ now, too. It's cold and sloppy and they've barely got medical supplies and the only positive now is the 501st.

Even though their being here means Kix and Scratch won't stop yelling at Cody to get some rest. He can't stand it, keeps waving them off. As long as he keeps on his feet, the coughing and chest pain don't really get in his way that much. After the campaign, then he'll take some meds. He's just sick, it's nothing serious.

General Kenobi, on the other hand, is injured  _ and _ very sick, has been coughing more than Cody and has almost as bad of a headache, and he’s barely even let Scratch put bacta on the injury. Skywalker’s been badgering him about it since he got here - the only reason Cody has continued to let his General be stupid is because if he didn’t, Kenobi would insist  _ he _ get treatment as well, and neither of them has had time for it.

That’s also the only reason he hadn’t commented on Kenobi going without half his rations, the past couple days, either. If they were going to run out of supplies, their men were at least going to have rations for a little longer.

It doesn’t matter so much, now; Skywalker has some rations and medical supplies to spare, and he’s called in a shipment, too, now that he’s broken the Separatist blockade.

Skywalker  _ also _ has had a lot to say to Kenobi about Commander Tano, which Cody doesn’t really blame him for. Apparently, Tano had been fighting with her men and gotten herself kidnapped  _ (again, _ Cody doesn’t understand what his Jedi have been doing lately, how they’ve gotten so kriffing careless), and although Skywalker says the kidnappers (which, if Cody overheard correctly, was a group of  _ troopers,  _ deserters, apparently) haven’t hurt her, he’s not happy about it. Cody isn’t particularly pleased either.

He’s trying to clean his blaster (which is near-impossible, everything is  _ covered _ in mud, him included) for the third time all day when Jesse and Kix both come over to him looking dangerously determined. He sighs, sets his blaster across his knees, and leans back to look them both in the eyes, stifling a cough so it burns in his throat. It’s too cold, makes the cough  _ and _ the headache worse.

“What do you want?” he asks, tiredly.

“You should be resting,” Kix says, and Cody sighs and starts to go back to cleaning his blaster. Well, trying to. “Hey, Commander, I’m  _ serious. _ The rest of your battalion is getting treatment, you need to, too.”

“I’m  _ fine,” _ Cody says, throat rasping on a cough, which he can’t let out or Kix is gonna try to use that to say he’s  _ right. _ “Go bother my General, Kix, he’s in worse shape.”

“Your  _ General,” _ Kix snaps, “is being dealt with.  _ You _ are my problem right now.”

Cody sighs, rubbing his face with chilly fingers. He can’t just sit around and be miserable in the middle of a campaign - there’s far too much to manage, especially if Kenobi’s going to be out of action, finally. “Kix,” he says, flatly, “I don’t feel great, but I don’t need to be on  _ bedrest _ right now. Somebody’s got to run the battalion, and-”

“And General Skywalker is  _ more than capable, _ I think,” Kix snaps. “And Jesse’s not half bad at managing things either.”

“Thanks for that,  _ ori’vod,” _ Jesse mutters, rolling his eyes.

“I am  _ aware _ you both can handle it,” Cody says, to Jesse, sharp. “But you don’t need to, because I’m-” He can’t swallow back a cough, this time, and he turns his head away, swears to himself because once he  _ starts _ coughing he can’t stop, and it  _ hurts _ his chest. “I’m  _ fine,” _ he snaps, after a moment, as if being sharp about it is at all convincing.

Kix just crosses his arms, raises both eyebrows. “Oh yeah, I’m convinced. Are you convinced, Captain?”

“Not really,” Jesse says, thoughtfully, and Cody sets his blaster down again and glares at them both.

“Get over yourselves and go bother somebody who needs help,” he says.

Predictably, that… doesn’t really help, with Kix, who just sort of stares at him like he’s wondering why he ever decided to become a medic. “You’re coming willingly,” Kix says, slowly, “or Jesse and I are going to drag you kicking and screaming. Take your pick.”

Cody briefly considers whether Jesse and Kix  _ could, _ in fact, make him go anywhere he didn’t want to, thinks it’s somewhat unlikely, although Jesse is no shiny. But crossing Kix is usually a bad idea, and Cody’s pushed him pretty far, and he doesn’t fully trust Kix not to just sedate him and drag his ass through the mud, so he swears and gets to his feet.

_ “Fine,” _ he says. “But I’m not  _ staying.” _

“Think again,” Kix mutters, and Cody grits his teeth but sighs, follows him to where they’ve set up something of a medical area, which more or less means they’ve made an effort to cover the mud, set up cots and things so it’s somewhat clean, and put all the wounded and sick here in a big cluster of coughing and wincing  _ vode. _ Everything smells karking  _ awful, _ and Cody can’t help grimacing as Kix marches him over to a cot next to where Scratch is currently working on Kenobi with only half his usual efficiency.

There’s way too much sickness and infection here, even Cody knows it, and Scratch is more sick than most of them. Kix mostly hasn’t been letting  _ him _ do anything either.

Cody sits down, nods wearily at his General, who looks pissed to be here - but it’s good he is, because he looks  _ horrible, _ pale and tired and pained. Cody feels guilty, about that - he should have gotten Kenobi here sooner, but, well. He and Kenobi had had an agreement, of sorts.

~~~

Obi-Wan is _ not pleased. _

He's _ aware _ that he's not exactly operating at his _ peak _ right now - in fact, he's hard-pressed to remember ever feeling more _ miserable _ before, even as a child - but _ honestly, _ Anakin and Scratch are overreacting. So he's been only eating half rations (well, half of their already-almost-halved rations) for the past four days, and he's got a mostly-untreated blaster wound in his shoulder, and _ maybe _ he's been coughing a bit. It certainly isn't enough to warrant this much-  _ fussing. _

“Scratch,” Obi-Wan rasps, “you need to _ lay down.” _ His medic is _ sick, _ has a mask on because he's coughing almost non-stop, eyes bloodshot and bleary like he's been drinking, is paler than Obi-Wan's ever seen one of his men before, but he's refusing to _ rest. _ Instead, he's applying _ more _ bacta to the burn on Obi's shoulder, which will be _ fine, _ honestly, they need to _ save the supplies. _ The rest of his men need them far more.

“Oh, look who's talking,” Scratch snaps, muffled through the mask, has to pause in his ministrations to cough, almost doubling over with the force of the coughing fit. Anakin, who is sitting at Obi-Wan's side and who Obi-Wan is steadfastly ignoring, stands up and takes Scratch by the shoulder, pushes him into the newly-freed chair.

“I'll get some cough syrup,” Anakin starts, but Scratch loosely waves one hand.

“Don't worry about it,” he chokes out, tilting his head back and closing his eyes. “We have to- ration it.  _ Little gods.” _

Obi closes his eyes, for a minute, feels a pulse of deep concern overwhelming his irritation. “Scratch-”

“I'll be fine. Just give me a minute, hells.”

Obi-Wan looks away, meets Cody's eyes - his Commander has been reluctantly installed in the cot next to him, is laying down with Kix currently checking his temperature. “One-oh-three, holy kriffing _ shit,” _ Kix snaps out, staring at the thermometer in his hands like it's grown legs. “Yeah, you aren't leaving this cot. Sorry to disappoint.”

Obi-Wan's fever was 104, the last time Scratch checked it. He's not sure Scratch even checked his own.

Everyone is _ miserable. _

Obi-Wan is only in the medbay (or what passes for one) now because he'd _ apparently _ nearly passed out earlier, and Anakin had half-drug him. Not very dignified, but Obi supposes he probably _ should _ be at least laying down. It helps the migraine, a bit. Not much.

His chest _ aches. _

“So, tell me more about what's happening with Ahsoka,” Obi-Wan says, glances surreptitiously at Scratch, who is- asleep? Good. He catches Kix's eye, nods at Scratch, and Kix sighs a bit and signals at a couple of the 501st junior medics, Tuck and Ged - they come over and carefully get Scratch out of the chair and over to an empty cot.

Anakin frowns. “First, can you give me a little more about what exactly  _ happened, _ here?” He's been frustrated, because there's been simply too much to do for Obi to just  _ talk. _

He doesn't particularly _ want _ to talk right now, either. His throat feels like it's getting well-acquainted with a few knives.

Still, he sighs, coughs a couple times, harsh and wracking, and says, “Like I told you, this campaign has gone wrong from the beginning. We made it onworld easily enough, had engaged the enemy on multiple fronts - the Separatist droids are being aided by a local militia, well-trained. Things were going well until the Separatists brought reinforcements and attacked my cruisers.” He'd sent his pilots back up to help the space battle, had tried splitting his battalion to handle the dual-front on the planet itself. Neither decision had worked. “We held off the first few space attacks, but I underestimated the strength of the militia and, unfortunately, the toll the weather would take on the men.” Apparently _ none _ of them have ever encountered the strain of respiratory illness they'd found here, and given the mud and the cold and the near-constant storms, it'd only been days before his men started falling ill. The sicker they got, the easier they were gunned down. “I ended up retreating to here, the nearest defensive position, and we set up camp and tried to wait it out. With the conditions in space, it was difficult to get a message to the Council, so we were stuck here for almost a week before my request went through.” He has to stop talking to cough again, and for a moment he can't _ stop, _ can't get a breath, he's choking and everything _ burns _ and- and it settles, and he leans back into the barely-noticeable warmth of the blanket, shivers. He's _ cold. _ “That's when my last cruiser was destroyed. You got here, thankfully, not long after.”

Anakin sighs, runs a hand down his face - he's returned to his chair, now that Scratch is asleep. “Shavit, Master, you've got yourself in a real mess this time.” A trooper in 501st blue comes up with a thermos mug, and Anakin _ grins, _ holds it out to Obi with an eager look.

Obi-Wan doesn't know what it is, but he takes the thermos and it's _ hot _ in his palms, and he pushes himself up on his elbows, pulls the lid off and inhales the steam.  _ “Anakin,” _ he says, delighted, “where on earth did you get _ tea?” _

Anakin grins wider. “I had them bring it down from the mess on the _ Resolute. _ Caf, too.”

Obi-Wan takes a slow sip, then another, even though it scalds his tongue, because he's so _ cold _ and the warmth helps, feels good on his torn throat. “Ahh,” he says, “Anakin, my padawan, you are a _ genius.” _ Anakin preens, and Obi manages an exhausted smile, says, “Tell me about Ahsoka - I'm concerned for her.”

Anakin sobers immediately. “She was apparently attempting to cause a diversion to let her half of the battalion escape a trap when she stumbled into a camp of deserters. They took her captive and stuck her in Force-blocking cuffs. I guess Echo was there, though, and Brii and Senaar - I lost them on Umbara - and they managed to convince some _ Rex _ to let her go.” At the name _ Rex, _ Obi can't help looking over at Cody - his Commander has spoken in the past of his _ ori'vod, _ his batchmate, named Rex, who survived his whole battalion, was given the jaig eyes, and disappeared on the mission he would've been assigned to the 501st. Cody has always thought him dead. “Apparently Rex is their leader. They were attacked by Seppies and they evacuated, so I sent Fives with a squad to go get her. His ship was blown up after he docked - Seppies again - and I guess they had to jump to hyperspace. I'm not sure what's going on now, I've been a bit busy since then.”

Obi-Wan nods, thoughtfully. “Cody,” he rasps, takes a long gulp of tea to keep from coughing again, “your batchmate-”

“Is dead,” Cody says, very calmly.

Obi isn't so sure.

But he is _ cold, _ shivery, his hands shaking and making it hard to hold the thermos steady, and he's _ exhausted, _ and he _ hurts _ and so he leans into the thin pillow, closes his eyes.

“Hey,” Anakin says, nudges him. “Drink that before you pass out, Master, it won't do any good when it's cold.”

Anakin has a point. Obi drags his eyes open again, drinks a couple more swallows of the tea. It's _ wonderful, _ warms him just a bit, chasing away the chill that's been in his bones for the last few days. 

He can't keep his eyes open, all of a sudden, so he reaches for the energy and murmurs, “Give the rest to Cody,” and sinks deeper into his blanket.

He wants to _ rest. _

~~~

Cody takes the thermos that Skywalker hands him with fingers beginning to be numb, enjoys the scant warmth left in the container before taking a good long drink of the tea. He doesn't like tea, ordinarily, on the occasions Kenobi offers him some, but just now it's warm and it feels better than anything else probably could, except maybe caf.

He doesn't think about what Skywalker said.

It doesn't matter if the leader of the band of deserters that kidnapped Tano has the same name as Cody's dead  _ ori'vod _ \- that can happen, and just because it made him stop breathing for a moment when Skywalker said it doesn't mean anything. If Rex was alive, his  _ ori'vod, _ then he would have said something. He wouldn't have let Cody think he was dead.

Would he?

Cody  _ knows _ that's not his brother. So it doesn't matter.

He's glad Kenobi is finally sleeping. He's been worried for him. This will help. He sips more tea, sighs and debates sleeping himself, but he doesn’t want to lay down, and it’s too cold, and his head is splitting.

Rex definitely would have tried to tell him, if he wasn’t dead.

And anyway, Cody’s  _ ori’vod _ would  _ never _ have kidnapped a  _ Jedi _ \- he hadn’t liked his general, much, and Cody didn’t blame him for that, but- He should be focusing. They’ve got a campaign to finish and then they can get Commander Tano back. One thing at a time.

He should sleep. He can’t stop thinking, really, and he’s tired, and it hurts, still, thinking about his  _ ori’vod. _ (He’s given up thinking it’s the sort of thing that will stop hurting.) If he can’t sleep, then he can’t. So he leans over his knees, turns to look over at Kix, who’s busy taking a  _ vod’s _ temperature. “Kix,” he says, tries to ignore how his throat hurts, talking. “When you have a minute.”

Kix finishes what he’s doing, then comes over, looking frustrated already. “What  _ now, _ Commander?”

Cody sighs. “Can I just… have some pain meds? Not a lot, just- I want to sleep.”

Kix relaxes a little bit, and reaches into his belt for some pills, hands them over. “That’s not what I expected you to say,” he says, wryly, watches Cody take the meds like he doesn’t expect him to  _ actually _ use them.

“I gathered,” Cody huffs, leans over to set the now-empty thermos of tea down. He feels like he’s gonna fall off the cot, but he thinks he hides that. Sits back up and shuffles around till he can lay down and fit most of himself on it, tucks his arm under his head and tries not to shiver. It’s too  _ damn _ cold.

He can’t wait to get out of here, and back to Coruscant - even a kriffing sonic shower sounds damn good right now. He just wants to  _ rest. _

~~~

Aayla Secura arrives about two hours after Anakin  _ finally _ got Obi-Wan and Cody both to sleep - he’s been sitting and watching them sleep since they did, except for when Jesse brought in updates on the Seppies’ and the militia’s movements, and trying not to worry about Ahsoka. 

Now, though, there’s a full cruiser landing, albeit clumsily, a short distance away from their camp, in the area Anakin had taken during his offensive to get him  _ to _ Obi-Wan’s position. What little ground his Master had managed to gain during the original invasion, he’d lost it all again.

It’s a good thing Anakin got here when he did. Otherwise, he might’ve lost his Master, and that’s-

He can’t think about that. 

He meets up with Aayla and Bly not far from the camp, says, “Master Secura, Commander Bly. Glad you could make it.”

“How is Obi-Wan?” Aayla asks, concerned - behind her, her battalion is carrying crates of food (not rations, Anakin thinks they’ll have sent real food) and blankets and medical supplies.

“Sleeping, finally,” Anakin says. “Kix and I managed to get him and Cody both into the… medbay,” and he grimaces at the word. The  _ medbay _ is almost less sterile than the  _ rest _ of the camp, given all the injured and sick troopers and the mud, and the fact that even with rationing all the medical supplies they’d been about to completely run out of everything except bandages when Anakin arrived. Kix’s medical supplies hadn’t been enough at  _ all, _ either, so things have been… interesting. Not in a good way.

Aayla nods. “We need to discuss our next move - bringing my cruiser down was dangerous, but I didn’t see a better way to get all the supplies unloaded quickly.”

“There wasn’t one,” Bly says, tugging his bucket off and tucking it under his arm. “My men work quickly, though, General,” and he directs this at Anakin, “we’ll have everything offloaded fast.”

“Good,” Anakin says. “Come with me, both of you, I’ll have Jesse meet us in the medbay. We need to talk to Obi-Wan and Cody about the situation, and there’s- a couple of other things, too.” Ahsoka, mainly. He nudges the training bond, lightly, picks up that she’s somewhere safe, is sitting cross-legged with a fuzzy weight on her legs - but she’s too far away to tell much more. Huh. Well, she doesn’t feel alarmed, so that’s good, at least.

“Lead the way, Knight Skywalker,” Aayla says, and Anakin nods, turns and starts back for the medbay, taps his wristcomm as he goes.

“Jesse, meet me in the hospital,” he says, gets a quick  _ yes sir _ in response.

Good.

Cody’s still out when Anakin leads Aayla and Bly over to his and Obi-Wan’s cots, grabbing a couple spare chairs - Aayla looks like she’s having to make an effort to keep both her face and Force-signature calm, and Bly is looking around with undisguised horror and a bit of nausea. “No offense,” the Commander mutters, “but this is the shittiest field hospital I’ve ever been in.”

Kix looks up from where he’s checking Scratch’s temperature (the 212th’s senior medic is still asleep, does  _ not _ look very good), says, dryly, “You and me both, Commander. Try not to get sick.”

Bly makes a face, pinches his nose shut with one hand, and Aayla snorts at him, shoves his shoulder, light. “Be polite, Bly,” she admonishes him, and the Commander mutters something less-than-complimentary-sounding under his breath and drops his hand.

Obi-Wan is, apparently, awake again. “Anakin,” he says, with a tired sigh, and then focuses on Aayla, actually smiles a bit. “I thought I heard your voice. Come to rescue me, then?”

“You look  _ terrible,” _ Aayla says, sitting down in the available chair.

Obi-Wan shrugs one shoulder. “Yes, I’m aware of that, Anakin won’t stop saying so.”

“He wouldn’t kriffing  _ lay down,” _ Anakin grumbles. “The  _ point _ is, Obi-Wan, Master Secura and I need to hear everything you’ve got on the militia and the strength of the droid army here. Between the 501st and 327th we should have this invasion.”

“I suggest we send the worst of the sick and injured to my cruiser,” Aayla interjects. “I have medics to spare and they’d heal faster out of this…” She gestures descriptively.

“I doubt many of the men will want to abandon the mission,” Obi-Wan says, coughs a moment, wincing. “You can ask them, though. Before we start discussing the campaign…” He pauses, nods at Anakin. “What are we going to do about Ahsoka?”

“I was planning to take you and the 212th back to Coruscant on the  _ Resolute, _ after this campaign,” Anakin says. “If she hasn’t made it back by then, we’ll swing by wherever she’s at and pick her up.”

“A good plan,” Aayla says. “Ahsoka can handle herself. We must focus on this campaign,” she adds.

Anakin nods. He is  _ terrified _ for his padawan, but Aayla’s right.

Ahsoka  _ will _ be fine.

And if she isn’t, well.

Anakin will make those troopers regret the day they ever took her.

* * *

Rex is tired. He is most of the time, lately, but he’s not worn himself out like this in a long time, and he keeps expecting there to be more  _ pain _ than there is - there’s something about the vivid memory of a lightsaber  _ cutting into you _ that makes  _ no pain _ a little implausible. But here he is anyway.

He’s got Tano to thank for that. He’s still not entirely sure how that makes him feel. It sort of doesn’t matter, anyway - she doesn’t fit his paradigm, and that’s weird as  _ shit, _ but it was bound to happen, probably. There are outliers to every rule, after all.

They’re eating dinner, sort of. Fruit and tubers and things that Rex’s  _ vode _ had gotten out of the garden (enough for now, but they’ll need to go back tomorrow), some dried foodstuffs that they’ve managed to keep with them, and unfortunately, some good old emergency rations.

_ These _ are why Rex left the GAR, for kriff’s sake. Disgusting.

Speaking of disgusting, the tooka cat is  _ still here. _ It followed Tano back to the main atrium that they’re all set up in, and it’s sitting by her feet, glaring balefully over at Di’kut, who is munching steadily on a piece of jerky.

At least  _ Naas _ likes the cat, because the damn thing is a nuisance.

No wonder Tano likes it.

His  _ vode _ are mostly still pissed off at everything, Tano in particular, but Rex is observing that, for better or worse, there’s less hostility aimed at her and more bewilderment. He  _ suspects _ that’s because most of them  _ also _ expected her to just let him get skewered in the face, or possibly just die of complications, or leave him.

A lot of these men served under generals that didn’t care - worse, many of them are from Naas’ battalion, served under the one  _ jetii _ Rex thinks he hates more than his old general, General Krell, and from Rex’s understanding (which is thorough), that  _ particular jetii _ hurts and kills and abandons the troops he commands.

So Rex thinks none of the  _ vode _ that he’s picked up off the battlefields that Krell leaves behind ever expected Tano to help him.

Not like he did either, anyway.

Life is full of surprises. Usually bad ones.

Tano appears to agree, more or less, because she’s picking at her emergency rations, and after a moment proclaims, seriously, “I’ve been eating these kriffing things for three years and they still don’t taste any better.”

“You should try deserting,” Rex says, flat, taking another bite of his own food and wrinkling his nose. “The food is better.”

“Oh, yes,” Tano says, snarkily, “so I can hear all the accusations about how only a Jedi associated with the enemy would leave the fighting at this crucial time.” Yeah, well, worse things have happened. She snorts a bit, pushes her food around. “But you  _ do _ have a point. If I never have to eat these again, it’ll be too soon.”

“I’m surprised you _are,”_ Rex huffs, gesturing vaguely at the other supplies they have out. “Since we just found a _garden,_ _jetii.”_ She could have had literally _anything_ other than rations like most everyone is (the emergency rations were to make up what they couldn’t gather).

She looks almost sheepish, glances down a bit and shrugs. “I just- we don’t have much right now, and I figured I’d just eat rations so they,” with a loose handwave around the room, “could have better stuff.”

Rex laughs bitterly, instinctive, just a reflex really, although he can’t actually tell her it’s banthashit when he’s doing the same thing. It just… it  _ sounds _ like complete banthashit. He can’t believe he really thinks it’s  _ not, _ entirely.

Tano smiles, slightly, crooked and tired. “Whether you believe I care that much or not.”

“I don’t think most people put a lot of stock in what  _ I _ believe,” Rex says, dismissively. “You can do what you want, Tano - I’m not all that invested in cross-examining your motives.”

The  _ jetii  _ raises an eyebrow and looks at him, pointedly, which he does his level best to ignore. Why the kriff is she acting like she knows him, anyway? “Sure you aren’t,” she says, rolling her eyes, and reaches down to pet her cat.

Rex snorts, curls his lip, and doggedly goes back to eating. Why the  _ hells _ she thinks she’s so clever, he doesn’t know. Fekking  _ jetiise. _

After they’ve both finished their rations, and Rex’s mind has wandered to whether it’ll be safe enough to go out and try to hunt or anything tomorrow, Tano scoots slightly closer to him (with her cat on her lap) and glances over at Rex’s  _ vod’ika, _ Naas, who’s sitting with Je’kai and propping his feet on Di’kut’s back. “So, Naas,” she says, which immediately puts Rex on edge. “He’s Force-sensitive, jumpy as hells, and from Krell’s battalion?”

“Neat summary,” Rex says, short. He’d have preferred she didn’t realize Naas had the Force, but apparently that was too much to expect. “What about it.”

She shrugs a bit, and he tries to find something, anything in her expression to tell him what she’s after, right now. He comes up empty. “I’m curious about him. 607th, that couldn’t have been easy, especially not being sensitive.” She’s being quiet enough that Rex thinks Naas and Je’kai can’t hear her.

Je’kai would be pissed if he  _ could. _ He used to be the Captain of the 607th, has known Naas longer than Rex has, and Rex found him injured and alone on Umbara, when he found Brii - he’d found Naas a lot earlier than that, so he thinks Je’kai had thought Naas was dead, and so now Je’kai is protective. And really, he shouldn’t say much, but he is careful. “I don’t know much. He can’t talk about it,” Rex says, neutral. “He’d rather not, at least. You said something about Krell doing something to your men - if you’ve seen anything of him  _ at all  _ then it shouldn’t be hard for you to work out how it went in his battalion.”

When he brought Naas back, after finding him in the wake of one of Krell’s marches, on Felucia, his  _ vod’ika _ had been a  _ mess. _ They’d found out he was Force-sensitive only when he found out they were deserters, panicked, and threw the nearest several  _ vode _ away from him with the Force.

Tano flinches a little and looks down. “I wasn’t there, on Umbara,” she says, and Rex considers what little Brii and Je’kai have told him about that particular campaign. “I was- in space. Commanding. But Jesse told me.” Rex goes back to watching her. “Not a lot,” she says, slow. “Just… a few things. I should’ve been there.”

Rex doesn’t know whether that’s true - no one will talk about the Umbara campaign, and only some of the 607th  _ vode _ he’s helped will talk about Krell. Most everything he knows about those things is inferred. He thinks it’s most likely unreasonable for Tano to say she should have been on the ground if she was leading an assault above atmo, but that’s neither here nor there.

“Well,” he says, shrugging. “Krell mistreated his troops, Naas included. Not very complicated. I don’t think Naas’d be here if Krell’d known he was- he has the- Force, though.”

Tano swallows, hard, jaw tight. “I agree with you,” she says. “Anakin got called back to Coruscant, during the Battle of Umbara, and they put Krell in charge of the 501st. Jesse told me he- took their names, threatened Fives with his saber, made them march for twelve hours without rest, sent them on suicide missions-” none of this is news to Rex, really it’s just more of the same shit he’s been hearing for the past two years, at least, “-and ordered them to attack the 212th, by giving both battalions information that the enemy had clone armor.” The 212th is Cody’s battalion.

Rex suddenly thinks he  _ has _ to know if they followed the orders, if they knew, whether General Krell made his  _ vode _ kill each other, if- But he pushes that away.

Tano curls one hand into a fist, staring down at her fingers, very serious. “I can- only imagine what he did to his own troops.”

So can he, half the time. He just also happens to know that the long, straight burn scar on the side of Je’kai’s face is from a lightsaber, and that Naas ended up alone on Felucia because Krell left him behind, and that half the  _ vode _ from the 607th still can’t properly sleep at night.

“So your troops,” he says, neutral, flat, “did they attack the 212th?”

“Jesse said that Waxer and Ghost Company attacked them, they fought for a bit, until Jesse realized what happened.” Rex wants to be sick, bites back what he wants to say, what he  _ thinks _ about that, because you can’t-  _ Vode _ don’t do that, they don’t betray each other, they don’t  _ kill _ each other, it’s not  _ right. _ “That’s when he- arrested Krell. Krell killed a bunch of them, but they caught him and locked him up, and he was trying to just- join the Sith the whole time. Jesse executed him.” Rex looks sharply over at her, tensing a little despite himself, because Krell dead - and Krell executed by a  _ vod, _ no less - is good news, but of  _ course _ Jesse, whoever he is, wouldn’t have had the clearance to execute a general. “But the GAR doesn’t know that, and  _ can’t _ know.”

Rex looks down again, sighs a bit, puts that information away as yet another item to consider later.

“Cody was  _ sick _ when he found out what the orders he’d related really were.”

Rex is so, so careful not to move, or change his expression, or respond much at all. For half a second, he wishes he’d been back there, just for a bit, because he thinks he still knows how his batchmate, his  _ vod, _ would feel about sending his  _ vode _ to kill their own brothers. “Yeah,” he says, low. “I would be, too.”

~~~

Ahsoka sighs, a bit, nibbles on her rations without much vigor. Cody is her  _ friend, _ has been for years - he’s the one who started teaching her hand-to-hand, all those years ago when she was a brand new padawan - he’s probably one of her best friends in the GAR, besides Jesse and Fives. She knows he feels the same guilt she does -  _ wasn’t there, wasn’t there, wasn’t there _ \- only  _ worse, _ because his orders- He should’ve known. They talked about it, a little bit, and Ahsoka hadn’t been able to convince Cody that there was no way he  _ could’ve _ known Krell was a liar and a traitor.

She’d ended up just getting him another drink and sitting with him while he drank it.

“Yeah,” Ahsoka says, quietly, swallows a bit. “Jesse said that Krell- ordered him to execute Fives and Exe, one of our pilots, for a successful mission - against direct orders - to destroy a Separatist supply ship. Would’ve had Hardcase executed too but he was killed.” She swallows. “I guess he  _ wanted _ them to go on a suicide march, I don’t know. I’m just glad Jesse shot him, and if I’d been there for them, like I should’ve been, I would’ve killed him myself. Kriff the consequences. No one- treats  _ my men _ that way and gets away with it.” She closes her eyes, takes a deep breath in, out, release the anger.

Rex sighs. “It’s well past time  _ someone _ did,” he says, humming a bit.

Ahsoka opens her eyes, curls her lip a bit, mutters, “Finally, something we can agree on.” She would’ve liked to have killed Krell  _ herself _ \-  _ no one _ gets to hurt her men like he did. No one. But Krell is dead, either way, and her men are alright, and the  _ anger _ isn’t going to help, much, so she takes another long breath, holds it for a moment, in an almost-meditation pattern, releases it slowly, lets her emotions drain away with the air. “Naas said,” she starts, carefully, calmer, “that he doesn’t mess up with the Force  _ anymore. _ What does- what does that mean?”

Rex sighs again, looks over at Naas, briefly. “When he first got here, we didn’t even know he had the Force until he knocked over a bunch of my  _ vode _ because he realized we aren’t really- following regs, being out here. He wouldn’t even  _ admit _ he did that, and anytime we tried to say anything about it he’d lash out, accidentally I think.” He pauses, then adds, “That doesn’t happen anymore.”

Ahsoka goes  _ still, _ feels dread like ice water down her spine. “His eyes- did they ever… go yellow-gold, kind of glowing, like Maul’s were?” she asks, very soft, tense.

“I mean, once or twice, I guess,” Rex says, and she sucks in a quick breath. He goes sharp, fast, says, “Why?”

“But he doesn’t do it now,” she says, quickly, looking at him. “He’s- accepted the Force, he uses it some, doesn’t try to push it all down?” She presses some of her urgency into her voice, because  _ this _ is important, is so important.

He shifts, looks suspiciously at her. “Yeah, and it’s a damned nuisance sometimes. No thanks to the  _ jetiise.” _

She lets herself relax, closes her eyes. “Good. That’s- good.  _ Hells, _ Rex, you literally had a ticking Force time bomb that could’ve gone off at any second in the middle of your camp, I don’t know how you managed to- fix him, but… good.” He’s so  _ grumpy _ and  _ rude _ and  _ intimidating _ she wouldn’t have thought him of being  _ capable _ of setting an Ustura at ease, and yet- she remembers him sending her three guards away, after her nightmare, so that she could be more alone.

So maybe… maybe it isn’t all that far-fetched.

Rex scowls. “Let’s just go back to that thing you said about a  _ ticking Force time bomb _ for a standard minute.”

She winces. “It’s called an Ustura,” she explains, carefully. “When a Force-sensitive refuses to accept their sensitivity, they shove the Force all down and ball it up and- we don’t really know, something triggers them and they snap. Become a conduit for a powerful Force storm, we think, one that can level mountains and destroy whole armies. There are- stories.” She swallows, shakes her head. “There hasn’t been a living one that  _ didn’t _ snap in probably close to thirty years, I don’t know how you managed it. The Dark is- wilder, more chaotic, that’s usually what Usturae latch onto, or what grabs onto them, I guess.” She shrugs. “That’s why I was asking about the eyes. From what you said, it sounds like Naas was an Ustura, and those times when he  _ panicked _ he could’ve blown you all up.”

He sighs, rubs his face, and says, “Well, that’s a new one.”

Ahsoka snorts. “I’m glad you were able to help him use the Force, though. He’s sweet.” From what she’s seen, at least, and Brii likes him, so. “We learn about Usturae in Initiate classes, briefly, and then I was learning about them in more detail when I got pulled from my Temple classes to run messages to the front. Probably any Temple-raised youngling over nine standard years could recognize the signs - not that any of us would’ve been able to  _ do _ anything about it besides run.”

“Are you calling me ignorant, Tano?” Rex asks, raising an eyebrow, and she rolls her eyes.

“Of course not, Rex,” she says. “I did say  _ Temple-raised. _ I don’t even know if they’re teaching about Ustura anymore, half the classes got replaced with strategy and tactics and all that. I’d be doing homework for those classes, but Anakin’s one of the best strategists in the GAR, so they exempted me from that curriculum.” She shrugs. “I’m not actually sure what Initiate classes are like anymore. I haven’t even been taking padawan classes much, lately, there’s been no  _ time _ and I haven’t spent very long in the Temple since they sent me to the front, so.” She shrugs again, like  _ what can you do? _ “So no, not ignorant.”

~~~

Rex thinks it should have occurred to him before that, while Tano is not a  _ child, _ she is young enough that her fighting for three years, as she’s said, is… well, just as (if not more) ludicrous as sending ten-year old clones into battle. If they pulled her out of  _ classes, _ to run messages, how  _ old _ was she? Rex, like all of his  _ vode, _ never had a childhood worth speaking of, so he isn’t sure, and he’s a little afraid to ask how old she was when all this started.

He was ten standard when they sent them all to Geonosis. Not that you’d have known it. He used to think that was normal.

“Why are they teaching kids battle tactics?” he asks, carefully. The  _ vode _ being trained since early, that he’s used to - or at least, he knows about, expects, figures it’s not entirely anyone’s fault but the longnecks’. What he  _ somehow _ didn’t expect was the  _ jetiise _ making their  _ own _ kids train for a war. They have the option  _ not to, _ so why would they?

“There aren’t enough Jedi to fight this war,” which is a  _ piss-poor  _ excuse, “and with the one padawan, one Master rule, and the severity of this war, there just isn’t  _ time  _ to wait for us to learn it all naturally. If we keep Jedi we might end up with  _ only  _ the padawans left to lead the battalions.” She sounds  _ tired, _ shakes her head a little, and Rex curls his hands into fists and looks at them, trying to organize his thoughts.

“A better question,” he says, slowly, “How old were you, when they took  _ you _ out of normal classes?” Because maybe  _ jetii _ kids don’t have  _ exactly _ a normal childhood (he’s not sure how all that works, really), but they should have  _ some  _ sort of one, like other kids - but he shouldn’t be surprised if that’s not how it works.

“Thirteen, almost fourteen,” she says, and Rex swears under his breath. “I was fourteen when they assigned me to Anakin as his padawan and the 501st’s Commander.”

“Fekking hells,” he says, flatly, tiredly. “Why am I even  _ surprised.” _ So she’s, what, sixteen? Seventeen? If she’s been fighting for  _ three years. _

Not kriffing  _ right. _ The  _ jetiise _ can’t even treat their  _ own _ well, nevermind anyone  _ else. _

There was nothing anyone could do about the  _ vode’s _ aging and training, really, but nobody should’ve been sending normal thirteen-year-old  _ kids _ into the war.

This whole damn war is being fought by kids.

“My first campaign was on Christophsis, my first solo command was on Ryloth,” Tano tells him, with a shrug. “I’m not the youngest padawan on the front, by a long shot.”

Rex was supposed to fight on Christophsis, but he left before that campaign.

“Unbelievable,” he growls, fuming a bit. It’s just- he’s fekking  _ sick _ of the  _ jetiise _ and the war and all of it, and just when he thinks it can’t get worse, it always  _ does. _

“This is war, Rex,” she says, like he doesn’t  _ know that. _ “We do what we must. I wasn’t- ready for command though.”

“Oh, no  _ karking _ way,” he hisses, sarcastically. “A fourteen-year-old, not ready to lead a fekking assault.  _ Disgraceful. _ Whose  _ genius _ idea was  _ that?” _

Her cat pins its ears back, blinks its eyes open (it’s been napping), and hisses irritably at him. He ignores it.

“I  _ wasn’t,” _ she says, flinching. “I should’ve- known the weight of the responsibility, but- My first solo command, I was too inexperienced, I missed the signs of the trap, and I was too impulsive. Disobeyed orders and got my entire kriffing squad killed. I wasn’t responsible enough to take command, and I  _ should’ve been.” _

Rex sneers, bitter, and looks away, shaking his head. She should not have been in charge, she shouldn’t have  _ been in the war, _ but that apparently doesn’t matter to anyone. “Not sure why you think you ‘should’ve been,’ Tano. For  _ kriff’s sake.” _

She grits her teeth. “I was  _ fourteen _ and a  _ padawan. _ Maybe I wasn’t when I landed on Christophsis, but I have a  _ duty _ towards my men, as their Commander and their Jedi, and when I  _ led them into battle,  _ I should’ve grown up a lot faster than I did.” Rex huffs out a breath, shakes his head, impatient. She misunderstands him, though, says, “And I’m quite well aware you’re going to be pissed off about someone that young giving your brothers orders, because it just got them killed.”

Oh, that’s a whole  _ other _ thing altogether, just part of why he’s  _ pissed. _ Rex runs a hand over his hair, harsh and impatient, trying to figure out whether it’s even worth having this conversation. He can tell everyone is paying attention to them, although all of them besides Fives and Jet and Echo are trying to pretend they’re not.

“I,” he says, sharply, “am a little more pissed that the  _ jetiise _ are sending children in to command battalions, Tano. Not that it’s  _ new, _ but at least we,” he gestures sharply at his  _ vode, _ “had proper karking  _ training.” _

“I was under the impression you didn’t care about the Jedi, whether that’s Jedi younglings or Jedi Masters, we’re all the same guilty party in your eyes,” she says, and Rex scowls, bites back a cutting response. “And I  _ was _ trained,” she adds. “I held my own against Grievous less than a month after Christophsis. Not well, I have to admit, but I cut off his hand when he choked me.”

Rex swears again, abruptly, pushes himself to his feet. He needs to not talk about this anymore. “You don’t understand a damn thing about what I think,” he snarls. “It isn’t karking  _ right _ you’ve been fighting this war that long - it doesn’t matter how  _ ready _ you were, you  _ shouldn’t  _ have been.” He starts to stride away, past his  _ vode, _ who are all avoiding looking at him.

Tano won’t let the matter drop, though. “And if we  _ didn’t _ fight to save the galaxy,  _ who would?” _ she snaps, from behind him, and he stops,  _ almost _ laughs except nothing is fekking funny.

“Other people,” he says, sharp, low, turning partly back around. “If it’s that karking important, other people that had a gods-damned  _ choice _ about it. For all I care the Senate could’ve made themselves their own droid army, they’re tearing everything up badly enough as it  _ is. _ Fighting for the Republic isn’t a good enough fekking reason to get children killed.” It’s  _ not, _ has never been, and this war is just some big pointless conflict between the Separatists and the Republic and it never should have gotten this  _ bad. _

Tano gets up from where she’s been sitting cross-legged (her cat tumbling off her knees with an irritated hiss that still appears aimed at Rex), gives him a scathing look, chin lifted. “I don’t fight for the Republic,” she says, her voice low and intense, sharp-edged. “I fight because I believe it’s the  _ right thing to do. _ Maybe, if you try hard enough, you can understand what that means.” She storms over to sit by Fives, who’s glaring at Rex like he could make him catch on fire if he stares hard enough, and Rex laughs, humorlessly, and strides over to sit by Naas.

She doesn’t know a  _ damn thing _ about him and what he  _ understands. _ She has the  _ audacity _ to talk to him about  _ doing the right thing,  _ like that isn’t exactly what he’s trying to do, and she can take her fancy  _ jetii _ morality and stick it up her ass where it belongs.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> **Mando'a translations:**
> 
>  
> 
>  _Je'kai:_ bait


	6. Chapter 6

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> There's a fine line between banter and flirting and Ahsoka always toes the line even when she's pissed. And we might not all be sure we really hate each other? Who's to say.
> 
> Remember, kiddies, balance.
> 
> Powerful light, powerful dark.

Ahsoka sits with her tooka back on her lap and  _ fumes. _

How  _ dare _ he say- how dare he  _ insinuate _ that she’s just fighting because the Republic told her to? He doesn’t kriffing know  _ anything _ about her or Anakin or why they fight, he kriffing  _ deserted, _ it’s not like- Okay, so maybe he has a point, she  _ shouldn’t _ have had to fight, but since when has the war given a  _ shit _ about  _ should? _ No one  _ should _ have to fight, that’s  _ part of why she’s fighting, _ to bring  _ peace _ back to the galaxy. So that maybe the  _ next _ generation of Jedi won’t  _ have to. _

“Commander,” Echo says, dryly, and she gives him a  _ look, _ “he was angry in your defense.”

“I don’t  _ need _ him angry in my defense,” Ahsoka snaps, crosses her arms and glares furiously at the floor. “I don’t  _ care. _ He can shut up and go to hells.”

Fives makes an affirmative noise. “Damn right, sir,” he says.

Echo  _ sighs. _ “Sir…”

_ “What, _ Echo?”

“He wasn’t actually insulting you, most of that conversation. You were  _ making progress.” _

“I don’t  _ want _ to make progress,” Ahsoka says, sulkily.

“Are you  _ aware _ of how much you sound like a kid,” Echo asks, not even a question.

She flips him off in answer. Because  _ yes, _ she  _ is, _ thank you very much. She’s just angry enough she doesn’t  _ care _ right now.

… she needs to make progress. Wasn’t she just thinking earlier about how they’ll need to at least be allies if they’re going to all survive?

“Yeah, you’re right,” she says, after a moment, dutifully, although she’s still  _ not happy. _ “I guess I should apologize.”

“Probably, sir,” Echo agrees.

Ahsoka  _ really hates _ admitting she was wrong, holy kriff.

She sighs, probably  _ way _ too dramatically, and nudges her cat (who needs a name, she decides) off her lap, stands up, forces herself to  _ relax, _ and picks her way across the room over to where Rex is sitting with Naas and a clone in most of his armor. Rex is  _ glaring, _ as she approaches, although the effect is somewhat ruined by Naas’ Kiros bird sitting on his arm and poking his face. “I am not continuing that conversation with you right now,” he snaps.

She grits her teeth, takes a deep breath, lets the anger go.

“I’m sorry,” she says.

The clone on Rex’s other side, not Naas,  _ flinches. _

“I was wrong,” she adds, tucks her arms behind her back and shifts her stance. “I shouldn’t have yelled, and I… shouldn’t have insulted you. Because I do realize that this  _ is _ doing what you think is right.” She  _ hates _ that she knows that, and she hates that it makes her- almost admire him, a bit. Because she’d really much rather just  _ hate _ him. Rex leans back a little, relaxing almost minutely, and she takes another deep breath. “So I’m sorry.”

The clone next to Rex looks  _ terrified, _ although he’s being very careful to keep his face mostly blank. There’s a scar, long and straight, on one cheek and he’s got a starburst tattooed around the opposite eye, and she’s suddenly sure he’s one of Krell’s troopers. Something about the way he’s holding himself… she deliberately opens her posture, lets her hands hang down calmly by her sides, pushes calm into the ambient Force - the clone’s fear and  _ protectiveness _ echoes out from him, and she studies him for a moment, almost totally forgetting about Rex.

Until he speaks again, jarring her from her thoughts. “Well, alright then, Tano,” and he says it  _ reluctantly. _ “It’s not a big deal.”

She nods, hesitates, and then meets the other clone’s eyes and asks, quiet, calm, “What’s your name?”

He goes  _ still, _ says, slowly, “CT-3181-”

“Hey,” Ahsoka says, cuts him off. “None of that, trooper,” and she crouches down. “Numbers aren’t  _ names, _ they’re just-” she looks at Rex, smiles wryly, “-another way of erasing your identity.”

Rex cuts her off before she can say anything else, says, “Hey, Tano, let it go,” and he sounds defensive, so she sighs and nods, straightens up.

“Alright,” she says, calm still, and steps back.

“It’s Je’kai,” the trooper says, suddenly.

“Well.” Ahsoka smiles at him, warm, says, “Nice to meet you, Je’kai. I’m Ahsoka.” She takes a couple more steps back, though, pushes a bit more  _ calm _ into the Force, turns and steps away, walks back over to Echo and Fives.

That could’ve gone worse.

~~~

Rex sighs and looks over at Je’kai, concerned, when Tano walks away, resists putting a hand on his  _ vod’s _ shoulder because Je’kai does not like to be touched.  _ “Gar jate, vod?” _ he asks, quietly.

Je’kai is looking after Tano, seeming confused (not that Rex blames him).  _ “She wanted to know my name,” _ he says, like he can’t quite believe it.

_ “‘Lek,”  _ Rex says, nodding.  _ “Guess so. You know you didn’t have to tell her.” _

_ “I know.”  _ Je’kai sounds so surprised, and Rex guesses he understands. Thinks he didn’t expect any of that either,  _ once again. _ Tano doesn’t make sense.  _ “That’s why I told her,”  _ Je’kai explains.  _ “She asked. And she didn’t like that I gave her a number.” _

_ “Fair enough then.” _ Rex sighs, rubs his face.

_ “I like her,”  _ Naas says, not for the first time, very decisive.  _ “Mostly.” _

Je’kai glances over at Naas, somewhat thoughtfully.  _ “Well then, vod’ika, she must not be too bad.” _

Naas huffs, self-satisfied, and picks his bird back up off Rex’s arm to set her on his shoulder. The bird’s name is Tra’ika, and Rex kind of likes her. Naas tends to just pass people his bird, when they’re upset, and the first time he’d done it to Rex, Rex had been immensely confused, but it did sort of help, oddly enough. He doesn’t complain about it - Naas does all sorts of odd little things, trying to help his  _ vode, _ and nobody ever tries to tell him not to.

_ “She’s probably not,” _ Rex admits, half-smiling.  _ “For a jetii, anyway.” _

Naas nods, seriously, and pats Tra’ika on the head.  _ “For a jetii, she’s nice. I thought- Rex, if I ask her, do you think- she would show me how she fixed you?” _

Rex glances over at Tano, half wants to tell Naas no because the idea of his  _ vod’ika _ risking asking Tano about the Force makes him nervous, but… Well. He thinks she would be careful, and if Naas wants to ask…  _ “I don’t know, Naas. I- I think she probably would. If you wanted.” _

Naas  _ grins. _ He likes healing, has learned a lot about medicine from Sniper.  _ “Okay. Okay, I’m gonna ask her.” _ He gets up, abruptly, apparently planning to go do so  _ now, _ then hesitates.  _ “Can you- come with me?” _

Rex sighs, smiles a little, pushes himself upright.  _ “Okay, vod’ika.” _

Naas crosses his arms and marches determinedly over to Tano and her little group of 501st  _ vode, _ and Rex stays at his shoulder, notes with some amusement that, as always, Di’kut is grumping along behind Naas. Je’kai walks on Naas’ other side, and Rex quietly pretends not to know his  _ vod _ is scared.

Tano smiles, when she sees Naas - her cat, on the other hand, decides to launch itself in their direction, and she has to grab it and tug it against her chest. Rex suspects the cat doesn’t like Naas’ akk dog.

Maybe Di’kut will eat the cat, that would be convenient.

“Hi,” Naas says, jutting out his jaw a little, and Rex finds himself slightly wanting to laugh. He just smiles a bit at Naas instead.

“Hey, Naas,” Tano answers, with a chuckle. Fives is still glaring.

Rex is getting a bit tired of him.

Naas fidgets, glances over at Rex, and Rex smiles and nods, encouraging, so Naas takes a deep breath and says, “You fixed Rex.”

“Yeah, I did,” Tano says. “Not completely, and I’m not very good at it - Obi-Wan’s the best person I know at it.”

Naas nods quickly, repeatedly. “Well, I sorta can do that. But I’m just- Can you- I don’t know how you’re  _ supposed _ to do it.” He hesitates a second, then asks, “Can you show me how to?”

“Yeah, of course,” Tano says, with a wide, pleased grin, and Naas blinks. Glances at Rex, then Je’kai, then back at Tano.

“Oh,” he says. “Okay. Okay, cool.” Rex can practically  _ feel _ how excited his  _ vod’ika _ is, so he meets Tano’s eyes, smiles slightly, appreciative.

She’s still grinning. “I could help you with other stuff, too, if you wanted,” she says, to Naas, and Naas looks down, fidgeting some more.

“I don’t know,” he says. “Maybe that would be nice.”

Rex thinks he’s not sure he wants Tano teaching his  _ vod’ika _ that much, but as long as Naas is alright, then it’s up to him. And Rex is fairly sure that Tano will not hurt him - and if she does, then Rex will make sure she answers for it.

“The offer stands,” she says, warmly, then looks over at Rex. “Hey, Rex, can I have a word?”

Rex sighs, nods. “Sure.” He briefly squeezes Naas’ shoulder, and Naas proceeds to plop down on the floor by Brii and start talking animatedly in Mando’a about what he wants to learn about Force healing. Rex chuckles a bit, follows Tano a short distance away from everybody. “What do you want now,  _ jetii?” _ he asks, tiredly.

“I want to know about Je’kai,” she says, which makes Rex nervous, again. He’s  _ tired. _ “He was in Krell’s battalion, wasn’t he?”

“Yeah, he was the Captain of the 607th,” Rex says, neutral. “I found him and brought him back to my  _ vode _ after that Umbara campaign.” There had been a lot of men to get, that day - too many dead, too, but some injured to bring back for Sniper to treat. A lot of infection. And far too much grief and silence.

~~~

Ahsoka nods - she’s not surprised, really. She’d noticed the gunbelt and kama Je’kai had had sitting on the floor by him earlier, and the way he carries himself - he walks like a leader. “Can you tell me about him?” she asks, quietly. She will understand if the answer is  _ no, _ of course, but- “I could feel his fear, when I barely even acknowledged him, and he tried to give me his  _ number-” _

She cuts herself off. It makes sense, in a way. For Je’kai to have been a Captain, he would’ve had to have been around Krell for a long time - long enough for Krell to, perhaps, ingrain the idea that  _ clones are not people. _

Rex considers, for a moment, then sighs. “It is not my story to tell, but I can explain some.”

She nods, understands. “I’d appreciate it.”

“Krell did not take care of his troopers,” Rex says, and Ahsoka nods again - she’s known that, or at least expected it. “And he left them to rot on campaigns if they couldn’t keep up - that’s how I found Naas.” Does that mean… the  _ wounded? _ Force,  _ no. _ “Je’kai is protective, so he got himself in trouble a lot. The scar on his face is from Krell’s saber because he was trying to protect Naas. And Krell punished them when he and some others tried to get help, killed and reconditioned them. Je’kai is afraid of  _ jetiise, _ Tano, and you’re not an exception. I am- grateful you were careful with him, though.”

She takes a shaky step back, just  _ stares _ for a minute.  _ “Force,” _ she breathes, shakes her head. “Does that mean- the  _ wounded, _ did he just- leave them behind?  _ Hells, _ that’s- how could-” She stops, takes a careful breath in. “So when I was yelling earlier-” Her voice breaks off and she grimaces, closes her eyes and looks down. “It’s not  _ right,” _ she says, surprised at the viciousness in her voice. “Them being  _ afraid. _ They shouldn’t be afraid. Shouldn’t  _ have _ to be.”

Rex sighs, and she opens her eyes and looks back at him to see he’s crossed his arms, is studying her. “Apparently there is another thing you and I agree on. A lot of these  _ vode _ are left from his battalion,” he adds, and oh.

“Oh,” she says, quietly. Stops, for a moment, trying to think. “That’s- I think I understand a bit more, why all the anger. If- the only experience with Jedi that they’ve had is just-” and she stops, shakes her head. “I don’t want him to be afraid of me,” she admits, feels a bit small. “Do you think there’s a way I could- I don’t know, make him see? That I won’t hurt him, that I’d-” no, she can’t say that. “I don’t want him to be afraid.”

“Simple,” Rex says. “Don’t hurt him. And don’t get in his space, he hates it,” that last bit is said with a tired sigh. “The yelling isn’t great either, but,” and he smiles, wryly, just a  _ tiny _ bit, “that seems slightly inevitable.”

She can’t help returning the grin, says, “Yeah, I… have a temper. Oops. And opinions. I’m not going to apologize for either of those things, but I’ll certainly work on the yelling, and the provoking you on purpose…  _ if _ you’ll do the same.” It’s only as she finishes the sentence that she realizes they’re  _ smiling at each other _ like normal people, what the hells? That’s weird. He’s kind of cute, though, when he smiles like that-  _ no, _ kriffing hells, get a grip.

“Really not sure I can manage that,” he says, dry as dust, almost- teasing? “You’re asking too much, Tano.”

“Well, that’s fair,” Ahsoka agrees, “since, you know, I’m really not sure I can manage it either.” She grins teasingly at him, snorting. “It  _ is _ a pretty big request, I know.”

“I should have left you on Viridian,” Rex grumbles, shaking his head.

She  _ laughs, _ can’t help it. “I knew you’d admit I was right  _ eventually, _ Rex,” and so maybe she smirks just a  _ bit, _ but really, who could blame her?

“Kriff off,  _ jetii,” _ Rex huffs, and she laughs more.

“Fine,” she says, grinning, “but you  _ did _ admit it, so there. Don’t worry, I’ll save your dignity, I won’t tell anyone,” and she smirks a bit more, probably too amused.

“If you tried to tell anyone that load of banthashit, I’d have to kill you,” he says, deadpan. “Can’t have nasty rumors spreading around.”

“Indeed not,” she says, as straight-faced as she can. “Why, imagine what would happen if  _ Fives _ heard, he’d be more insufferable than he probably already is.” She’s noticed Rex seems annoyed by Fives, which is… fair. Since Fives is being  _ stupidly _ protective. “Well, you’ve convinced me, Rex - I’ll keep your secret. Wouldn’t want you getting harassed by my overprotective ARC, now would we?” She smiles, light.

“I appreciate it,” Rex says, wryly, “even though he’s already harassing me.  _ Or’shebsla vod’ika,” _ he adds, under his breath, and she snorts, understanding the intent of the phrase if not the meaning.

Ahsoka winces. “I can try to talk to him about it, if you want,” she offers, sobering a bit. “I know he’s… not exactly been very nice.”

Rex snorts. “I told you, he can think what he wants. To each their own, even if that means he wants to shoot me in the face.”

She doesn’t exactly  _ mean _ to laugh, it’s just… it’s funny, and Rex looks so  _ resigned _ \- she bites her lip, looks away, snickering to herself. “I’ll still talk to him,” she says. “He’s giving the 501st a bad rep. Kriffing asshole.” She says it fondly, though. “Anyway, thanks for telling me about Je’kai.”

~~~

Rex is an idiot. A gods-damned, stupid  _ di'kut. _ And he's got no  _ idea _ what the ever-loving  _ kriff _ just happened. Tano's still grinning, very amused, and a bit fond and warm, and Rex has absolutely no idea how they got here. He said he'd try not to provoke her, not-

Well, he's being  _ di'kutla, _ that's all.

So is  _ she, _ which is the confusing part - they aren't  _ friends, _ he doesn't like her and  _ clearly _ the feeling is mutual, so- What the hells just happened?

It's no big deal, he decides. He better just go to sleep. So when she turns around and goes back over to her squad, he pads over to an out of the way corners, lies down carefully on his uninjured side after laying out a bedroll from their pile of supplies. It's been a long day, and clearly he's gone a bit stir-crazy. He's stressed, and injured, and he needs rest. He only noticed her smile at  _ all _ because he's sleepy, and hyperfixating, and it's not as if he paid all  _ that _ much extra attention to her eye color, it's not his fault the lighting made her eyes look weirdly blue. He just needs to sleep.

He decides not to do anymore thinking about the  _ more _ bewildering aspects of the day: Tano saving his ass and mostly healing his side, and her being  _ careful _ of Je'kai, and her actually going away so they could remember their dead. Things  _ jetiise _ don't do. These things… He has to admit, he supposes, that Tano is not too bad. Like Naas said, she is nice. For a  _ jetii. _

She doesn’t understand, she is idealistic and  _ irritating  _ and ignorant and stubborn. But she has tried, and she somehow really seems to care about his  _ vode. _ So he can’t entirely hate her anymore.

It occurs to him that he doesn’t feel right about the plans he’d begun to make, anymore. If he is going to find a way to bomb or otherwise attack the  _ jetiise’s  _ Temple, he is… not sure he wants to use Tano as part of that plan.

But, he reminds himself, he will if he must. It is too important to him, to make them  _ see, _ for him to lose an opportunity because of a little discomfort.

That, too, he decides he will not think about anymore tonight. Instead, he pushes down the pain that burns slight but persistent in his side and makes an effort to sleep, closes his eyes and curls up.

He sleeps, and he dreams of the  _ dar’jetii, _ of a saber burning ceaseless through his armor and of blaster bolts driving into his stomach and back and arms, of pain like fire and looking up and seeing nothing but yellow eyes and leveled blasters and he  _ has to get up, get up or he dies, his men die, there’s no one there to help and he’s alone. _ He can’t do it, and the saber turns everything red, and he wakes up in the dark, panting.

He tries to let the sound of his  _ vode _ breathing lull him back to sleep. It only half works - he sleeps in fits and starts the rest of the night, is vaguely aware, very early in the morning, of Tano padding past him and then the sound of sabers humming.

He falls asleep again to that, uneasy.

~~~

Ahsoka doesn't sleep, much. 

The nightmares hit after she's been sleeping for a couple hours; she tosses and turns for a bit, but she can't get the images out of her head, and so eventually she pushes herself off the floor, noting with some amusement that Fives apparently was keeping watch while leaning against a pillar - he's asleep sitting up, tilted half-sideways, Echo's head leaning against his leg. She can't help but smile - it's good, seeing them reunited.

She steps carefully over Echo, weaves around sleeping clones (notices that all the 501st ones seem to have set up a basic perimeter around her, which is sweet but she thinks completely unnecessary), makes for a small atrium off the main hall they've set up camp in. Passes by Rex as she does - he's sleeping fitfully, tossing and turning, and as she watches he starts a bit and then settles. She thinks maybe he's awake, and she considers asking if he's alright, because she knows what nightmares look like, but something won't quite let her.

So she shrugs to herself, pushes peace and calm into the Force around him (not enough for him to notice it, just a little bit), keeps walking. Pulls her sabers out and settles into the opening stance, spends the rest of the night going through the familiar-as-breathing motions, with the occasional break to rest, and by the time the clones are starting to wake up, she's able to meditate undisturbed.

It's Echo who suggests the scouting trip, while they're eating breakfast. “We need to know what we're looking at, especially when General Skywalker comes.”

She nods, thoughtfully. “I'll talk to Rex about it.”

They make casual conversation for the rest of breakfast - Fives asks a multitude of questions about _ what the kriff happened between you and the asshole last night, Commander, _ which she thinks is mostly Fives looking for an excuse to go yell at Rex.

She's not entirely sure what happened between them either, but she doesn't tell _ Fives _ that, obviously. Instead, she goes with the factual answer, says, “I was asking him about one of his brothers. There's a bunch from the 607th here, and he told me some stuff about- how they were treated. I just wanted to know why Je'kai is scared of me - he gave me his number when I asked for his name.”

Fives growls, a bit. “I'm not surprised. Krell's a karking _ mir'osik.” _

Ahsoka doesn't disagree.

She goes and finds Rex after she eats, says, casually, “Echo suggested we go on a short scouting trip to see what these canyons look like. If nothing else, it'll be helpful for Anakin to know what he's walking into when he comes.”

“Do you think the  _ dar'jetii's _ still close?” Rex asks. “I don't wanna take a big squad, just in case.”

Ahsoka shrugs. “I stuck a lightsaber through his hip joint, but his army might be. And as far as the Sith go…  _ always two there are, no more, no less: a Master and an Apprentice. _ Maul used to be the Apprentice, but I'd bet a lot of credits he's got one of his own, now.”

“Then if we go scout, we need to be really careful and go light,” he says.

Ahsoka nods. “I want to bring Fives and Echo, and we should bring Naas, too - another Force-sensitive will help, at least in sensing the Sith. You should bring a couple more men and we'll go whenever you're ready?”

He nods. “Sounds like a plan,” he says, and then he turns on his heel and walks off.

Ahsoka goes over to Fives and Echo, says, “Rex and I are leading a scouting mission out to go take a look around, you two in?”

“Obviously, sir,” Fives says. Echo snorts.

She meets Rex and his three other men at the entrance to the Temple, notes that none of them are wearing armor - Rex is in a black shirt, tight enough she can see the outlines of muscles through the fabric, and _ holy kriff _ there's a lot of muscles. They flex and shift when he moves, catching her eyes, and the shirt is dark enough his eyes practically _ glow, _ rich and gold, and-

Why the _ kriffing hells _ is she-  _ staring? _ Kriffing-  _ eyes front, _ holy shit, he's not even that _ attractive. _

And he's _ stupid, _ mostly, so even if he _ was _ one of the most attractive men she's ever seen (which he _ isn't), _ there's still no reason to stare.

Then he lifts one arm to signal at Naas and the other two with him, and that drags her eyes back to his muscles again.

Well. So.

This is going to be a _ problem. _

~~~

Rex picks Akaan and Tank to come with them, scouting - he'd choose Sniper, with his sharp eyes, but Sniper confines himself strictly to medicine, now, and anyway, he's not doing well after yesterday's battle. But Rex trusts Akaan and Tank not to do anything stupid, and Tank is observant, so it'll be good. With any luck, they won't find any signs of the  _ dar'jetii _ or his army.

When they leave the Temple, the moist heat outside feels immediately cloying, like they've just stepped through a wet curtain, and Rex grimaces, considers suggesting they all just go back into the Temple where it's  _ cool _ and lay low. It's not that important to know the layout of the kriffing canyons anyway. But of course, he says nothing of the sort, just sighs and rests his hands on his blasters and looks around.

Echo produces a datapad, and tells Rex that he can functionally map out the canyons as they go, using one of the programs, so they have something to look at and use after this scouting mission, although they all have good memories. Rex nods, takes a brief look at the program himself.

“Sounds good, Echo,” he says, clapping his  _ vod'ika _ on the shoulder and ignoring Fives (yet again) glaring at him.  _ “You gotta let me know if your leg's giving you trouble, and we can go back,” _ he adds, in Mando'a, because although Echo has a good prosthetic, he still gets phantom pains, and Rex thinks walking all day on the false leg might be a bit much for him. Hopefully not.

Echo smiles. “Don't worry about it, Rex,” he says, and Rex huffs and steps back.

“No promises,” he says, dryly, stuffs his hands in his pockets.

Akaan comes to stand by him, elbows him in the side and nods at Tano. “We gonna get going? Standing around out here isn’t exactly fun.”

_ “Ne’johaa,” _ Rex says, rolling his eyes. “But he’s right, Tano, let’s get going.”

Tano nods. “Lead the way,” she says, and he inclines his head briefly before glancing around the canyon and signalling neatly for them to head west, back towards the wreckage of his ships. (It took him a long time to get those ships, and he’s not happy he lost them.) The sky is clear, blue-grey, and the wind is stiff and whips through the canyon. Somehow, the wind doesn’t dispel the heat or the damp heaviness of the air around them. Rex ends up walking beside Tano, although he’s very aware of Fives next to her keeping a narrowed eye on him. Akaan, on the other hand, is pretty relaxed, beside Rex, strolling along with his hands tucked behind his back.

_ “So, you are getting along with the jetii,” _ he says, after they’ve been walking for a little while.

Rex grunts, noncommittal.  _ “She is not so bad,”  _ he says, dismissive. Fives is  _ glaring _ over Tano’s head.

_ “Come on, Rex, vod, you’re understating it.” _

_ “Akaan…”  _ Rex sighs.  _ “Don’t be like that.” _

Akaan laughs and rolls his eyes, falling silent after saying,  _ “Fine, Rex.” _

_ “You should stop having private conversations in Mando’a in front of my alor’ad,”  _ Echo says, lightly disapproving.  _ “It’s a shit thing to do.” _

_ “It’s mostly harmless,” _ Akaan grumbles, but signs a lazy  _ okay. _

Their old general, Galina, would have been more upset about this than Tano appears to be - she’s scanning the canyon appraisingly with her eyes, doesn’t even look like she’s paying attention to them. General Galina had…  _ politely _ demanded that the men speak only Basic around her. For  _ clarity, _ she said it was, out of  _ respect _ for her  _ position. _ Never mind that the men’s private conversations with each other shouldn’t have bothered her and weren’t her business. She was  _ paranoid, _ is what she was, didn’t want to think they were talking about her. And Rex thinks she didn’t like anything Mandalorian much, either.

Rex supposes he shouldn’t be surprised that Tano doesn’t seem to mind.

They’ve brought water along with them, of course, but when the planet’s sun is highest in the sky and there’s no shade in the canyon, just sun glaring off the stone and down on their shoulders, Rex realizes that they haven’t brought  _ enough _ water. They’ll be fine, and they didn’t have the water rations to spare anyway, but it makes them all kriffing  _ miserable, _ especially Akaan, who ends up muttering to himself in Mando’a until Tank turns around and tells him that if he doesn’t  _ shut the kriff up _ Tank is going to  _ break his damn nose. _

Akaan doesn’t seem bothered by the threat, but after glaring narrowly at Tank, he shuts his mouth except for the occasional curse.

Rex doesn’t think Echo’s leg is doing well, either, but Echo says nothing about it, just keeps quietly making notes on his datapad.

A while after midday, when Echo is wincing minutely, only occasionally, as they walk, Tano glances over at him, says, “Are you okay, Echo?”

“Just fine,” he says, with a small smile, waving a hand as if to dismiss the question. It’s banthashit, literally all of them know it.

“Liar,” Tano retorts. “We can take a rest if you need it.”

Echo opens his mouth, glances over at Fives (who has a look on his face that even Rex knows, like  _ don’t you dare),  _ and sighs. “Fine. That- sounds good.”

They all troop over to the side of the canyon where there’s a bare minimum of shade and they can sit against the rocky walls, and Rex stays on his feet, leans against the stone by Naas, who has sat down and tipped his head back with a tired sigh. Naas left Tra’ika in the temple, but he’s brought Di’kut - the akk dog is protective and has a good nose for danger, at times, and besides that Naas claims that Di’kut gets very nervous without him around. Rex doesn’t know how Naas figures that.

Fives hasn’t sat down either, is standing near Rex, and Rex debates trying to have a talk with the ARC trooper, see if he can’t get the dumbass to settle down about him and his  _ vode, _ a bit. He’s not sure it’s a good idea right now, though, with the rest of his  _ vode _ and Tano here. Besides that, he thinks Echo is already irritated by the two of them, and Rex isn’t about to risk getting in a fight with Echo’s  _ ori’vod _ in front of Echo. Bad manners.

It’s still windy, and the wind whistling east to west through the canyons has finally done  _ something _ positive - after a moment or so of quiet, all of them sitting and sipping from canteens, Echo going over his notes and massaging what little is left of his right leg, Rex notes clouds beginning to scud heavy across the sky, turning everything a bit grey and overcast, filtering past the sun so it all doesn’t burn so much. It’s still damp, and hot, but at least Rex’s eyes don’t burn so much, and the wind’s gotten  _ almost _ refreshing. A bit of rain would be nice.

Later, Rex reminds himself that there’s a reason he doesn’t think optimistically.

Because it  _ does _ end up raining, and it doesn’t even have the decency to start out as a small rainshower - it’s like somebody slashes open the clouds with a knife, because one minute everything’s humid and hot but it’s still, and the next the wind is carrying rain in sheets, sideways, turning the canyon floor rust red and everything else dim and blurred, and Rex’s clothes are soaked through in a few standard seconds. He swears, notes Echo putting his datapad away (the thing  _ might _ not be ruined, it’s heavy-duty but so is this karking  _ rain) _ and his  _ vode _ scramble to their feet.

“Okay,” Tano says, loudly, over the splash of water on stone, “I love rain, but this is kriffing  _ overkill.” _

Considering Rex already feels like a drowned rat, and there’s water trickling into his eyes and over his ears and down the back of his neck, and he can’t really see past a few meters in any direction, he has to agree. “No kidding,” he calls, swipes ineffectively at his face.

Nobody has to say anything, they all just start back down the canyon along the wall, in the hopes of finding an overhanging lip of rock or a cave or  _ something _ that can offer a little shelter, and it’s all still too warm and Rex’s feet squelch uncomfortably in his boots and he’s just fekking  _ miserable. _

It’s Tank who grabs Rex’s shoulder and points out a dark shape ahead of them in the canyon wall that looks like the mouth of a cave, maybe, although really all Rex sees is a shadow. But he yells at Tano to look, and once she signals that she’s heard him, they all huddle together like so many dumb mynocks and half-run over to what Tank saw.

It’s not a cave, which is  _ damn _ disappointing, but what’s less disappointing is that it sort of looks like a door, and after a moment’s consideration, Tano confirms that’s what it is.

“I think I can try to lift it,” she says, closes her eyes so the rain drips off her lashes, holds a hand out towards the door, and Rex can see her straining a bit because of the tension in her muscles. The door shifts a bit, starts to lift, but as if it’s got faulty gears, it just settles lower, and Tano opens her eyes again and blows out a breath, swipes at her eyes. “Hey, Naas,” she says, “I need your help.”

Naas, looking small and shivery like a wet cat, scoots over to stand by her and slicks his hair back off his forehead, scattering water droplets. “Okay, what’re we doing?”

Rex glances around, impatiently, sees Akaan muttering something to himself, although he can’t hear it over the rain.

“We need to lift this at the same time,” explains Tano, and Naas nods. “I’m familiar with working in sync with another Jedi, so just focus and try to lift it, and I’ll work with you.” She pauses, adds, “It’s really heavy, but don’t focus on that - believe you can lift it and you’ll be able to.”

Naas nods again, puts both his hands out and narrows his eyes, and Rex sees him muttering what looks like “Fekk,” for a minute before he grits his teeth and shuts his eyes all the way. Tano puts her hand out again too, shuts her eyes again, and Rex crosses his arms, not entirely sure what he expects.

It doesn’t  _ look _ all that impressive, when it happens, the stone grinding off the ground and opening like a yawning mouth, but Rex can tell Naas and Tano are both working really hard to actually get the damn thing open. As soon as he thinks there’s space, under the stone, to get into whatever kind of cavern or house or hangar they’ve found, he moves past Tano, who says, “Everyone inside, now,” as if they need to be  _ told. _ It’s fekking shitty out here.

Rex ducks under the door, slicks water off his arms and out of his hair and starts trying to wring out his clothes while the rest of his  _ vode _ come in after him, then, fast, Tano and Naas.

The stone door crashes back closed behind them, and for a minute Rex can’t see a damn thing.

It’s dry though, so who gives a kriff.

Low-power lights, motion-activated, maybe, flicker on around them, and Rex reaches down to pull off one boot so he can get some of the water out of it.

He stops mid-motion, though, because he has a sudden tight, shivery feeling in his gut, an instinctive anxiety and a thrill of nerves up his spine like pre-battle jitters, like somebody’s watching him, and he straightens up very carefully and looks around.

He thinks everyone else feels it, too.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Mando'a Translations:
> 
> alor'ad: commander


	7. Chapter 7

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> tw for panic attacks and referenced harassment and possession.

Ahsoka doesn’t entirely know where they  _ are, _ what this…  _ place _ is, but there’s something odd about it, something that thrills down her spine and whispers  _ careful, careful. _

The Force feels… strange. Wrong. Something tells her she should  _ leave, _ but that’s impossible - it’s  _ pouring _ rain outside, they’re all  _ drenched, _ and they’re half a day from their camp. “We better get away from the door.”

“You don’t have to tell me twice, sir,” Fives says, pulling his helmet off and clipping it to his belt. “If I never have to be out in rain that bad again, it’ll be too soon.”

Ahsoka snorts, pushes past Rex and starts to make her way through the narrow, winding hallway, hoping it’ll open up into a larger area they can all take cover in. “I’m not sure I like this place,” he says as she passes, low, and she nods.

“You and me both,” she murmurs. “I have a bad feeling about this, but it’s better than the storm, right?”  _ Wrong, _ the Force whispers,  _ leave now and never come back. _

She shivers and pretends it’s just the cold.

The corridor does not open up. Instead, it twists around, and Ahsoka picks a path at random when it forks, and for a moment she could swear she feels a breath on the back of her neck - she spins, briefly, frowning, sees nothing but Rex next to her and Fives and Echo right behind.

Weird. She brushes the feeling away, after a moment, although there’s a lingering feeling of eyes on her back, of being  _ watched _ \- it sets every nerve jangling with the awareness of  _ danger, _ although she’s not sure why. “Something’s wrong here,” she says, very soft, after a moment.

It’s the Force, she thinks. Telling her that.

“No kidding,  _ jetii,” _ Akaan, one of the clones with Rex, says, but he sounds more nervous than anything else.

“Maybe- we should go back,” Echo says, slowly, and Ahsoka considers for a moment.

“That storm’s pretty bad,” she says. “But… you’re right, I think, I- don’t think this is safe.”

“I agree,” Rex says, gruffly, and she swallows. “I’ll take the storm. Let’s get the kriff out of here.”

They all turn and start back for the main room, where the stone door is, and Ahsoka memorized the turns they took, knows Fives and Echo and all of Rex’s men did too, but for some reason the trip seems to take longer than it should. She doesn’t  _ like this, _ something’s humming and laughing in the back of her mind and she can’t shake the feeling she’s being  _ watched, _ and the red low-power lights barely illuminate the dark stone corridors, splash like old blood over the walls, dark and dirty and shadowed. “This is wrong,” she says, after a moment, stopping at a fork. “We should be  _ back _ by now, I don’t- I don’t recognize this turn.”

“It hasn’t been the right way for the last few turns, I think,” Rex says, and she shakes her head, shivers a bit.

“I memorized the turns we took, this should’ve taken us back to the beginning. I-” She pauses. “I think we made a mistake coming here.”

_ Hello, little skug. _

Ahsoka  _ spins, _ fast, panic humming like a swarm of wasps through her veins, because oh  _ kriff _ no, not him, he can’t- the voice is  _ right behind her _ and she jerks her sabers out, ignites them, instinctive, heart pounding in her throat-

There’s nothing there.

In the corner of her eye, she sees Naas flinching  _ hard, _ but she can’t focus on that, because the  _ voice _ is back, the voice of her nightmares, all around her, echoing, and her instincts  _ scream _ that there’s someone  _ right behind her _ and she turns, slowly, so slowly, catches just a glimpse of-

Of  _ him. _ Sharp face and smirking smile and possessive eyes, and then  _ gone, _ and-

“Did- anyone else see that?” she manages, hoarse, tries to shut her sabers off but can’t quite manage it. “Or- hear that?” Her hands are shaking.

It’s Rex who answers, sounding shakier than she’s ever heard him before. “I don’t- know, Tano, depends what you mean by  _ that.” _

_ They can’t see me, skug. Just you. Think of all the fun we could have. _

Something  _ touches her. _

“No!” Ahsoka jerks back, stumbles until her back hits a wall, slides down to the floor and squeezes her eyes shut, claps her hands over her montrals. “You’re not  _ real, _ you’re  _ dead, _ go away!” She can’t, no, no- No. Please. Not this, not again, he’s  _ dead, _ Molec is  _ dead, _ they burned Zygerria  _ down _ and he’s  _ dead. _

“Sir-” It’s Fives, “-I think we need to get out of here.”

_ Yes, why don’t you walk away from that wall? _

She makes a small noise, presses back against the relative safety of solid rock at her back, says, “I- I-” She can’t. Everything is so  _ Dark, _ oh hells, she can’t feel- Where’s the Light? It’s  _ gone, _ all of a sudden, nothing but inky black rage and despair and sick, it’s so  _ cold _ and she shivers, can’t breathe.

“We’re trying, Fives.” That’s Rex, she recognizes his voice. “We better- we need to regroup, this is- not right, something’s here.”

“It- it’s so  _ Dark,” _ she whispers, curls in on herself. “I- I can’t-” Breathe, she needs to breathe. “The- the Force signatures,” she mutters, to herself. Has to focus, on the bright pinpoints of light that are Fives and Echo, Tank and Akaan, Rex and Naas - flinches away from an ephemeral brush against her side. “There’s something  _ touching me,” _ she gets out, knows she sounds hysterical, can’t seem to  _ relax. _ Because the  _ voice, _ it’s- but it  _ can’t be,  _ he’s not  _ real, _ but-

Oh, Force. She  _ can’t, _ she-

“Echo,” Fives is saying, “Echo, are you alright? Hey,  _ ori’vod, _ look at me.” She considers opening her eyes, but she  _ can’t see him, _ no not again.

_ I’m going to have such fun with you when you’re mine. _

No. She presses her hands tighter against her montrals, but the voice doesn’t  _ stop. _

“Sir,” Fives says, sounds almost panicked, “this is really weird, sir, I can’t- I don’t know what’s real.”

Neither does she- it  _ touches _ her again and she flinches, into the wall, can’t do this, can’t. “There is no emotion,” she whispers, latches onto the only thing she can think of, “there is peace.” It’s not helping. “There is no ignorance, th-there is knowledge-” and she takes a rough breath. “There is no passion, there is serenity,” serenity, calm, meditation, breathing patterns - she clings to those patterns, familiar, worn smooth as river stones, forces her shuddering breaths into something resembling normal. “There is no chaos, there is harmony,” and something  _ shrieks _ at that, and it all gets  _ worse, _ the Dark so thick and choking she can’t  _ breathe, _ and she whimpers, presses her face into her knees. “I- I can’t either, Fives,” she admits, “it’s so- I can’t.”

_ You are mine now. _

And the voice goes  _ deeper, _ velvet and durasteel, humming smooth and powerful, and she shivers, no no  _ no, _ she’s not  _ there, _ not on Mortis, not in a cage (except she can feel the heat of the bars behind her back and the air is heavy with the weight of the Force), this is a  _ lie, _ it’s not  _ real, _ it’s not, it’s not, it’s not.

_ Don’t you see, child? You are alone now. _

“I can’t,” she repeats, tiny, broken, and tries not to sob.

~~~

When they stop, in the middle of the hall, Rex sees a flash of white in the corner of his eye, hears a raw shout from a  _ vod, _ somewhere, “Rex!”

It's his imagination. He thinks. He ignores the shiver up the back of his neck and the certainty that  _ something’s _ coming and tries to think what to do next.

When Tano is panicking, pressed shaking back against the wall, Rex almost steps forward to catch her except he moves and almost trips over a body lying at his feet, a  _ vod _ in dark blue-painted armor, crumpled, and he jolts himself to a stop. It's a brother from a long time ago, Kelly from the 325th, and Rex closes his eyes and shakes his head and determinedly tells himself there's no way for the body to be real, no way for him to be here, before he opens his eyes.

The body is still lying there, when he looks again, and Rex grimaces and looks back at Tano, who's shaking. “There's something  _ touching me,” _ she stammers, fast, and Rex thinks he should help her, he-

_ “Captain! Rex!” _

He twists around, instinctive, hands going to his blasters, sees another  _ vod, _ Sam, staggering up to him, flinches because he  _ feels _ Sam grab him by the shoulders and his  _ vod's _ voice is shaky, panicked.

“ Captain, where is she, where's the General?” he asks, panicked. “They're gonna  _ kill us.” _

Rex can't answer, tries to shake himself and turn away so he can't see his  _ vod, _ except then there's a sound of blasterfire and a short, sharp cry, and he remembers this, knows what happened, but he still looks back to see Sam on the ground, dead.

Rex shakes his head, desperately, looks around and focuses _hard_ on his _real_ _vode,_ on Fives (shaking, and flinching, and grabbing onto Echo's hand) and Naas (curled up on the ground and holding his dog and crying) but they're brothers, too, and he's beginning to hear them screaming, and yelling, and there are more sounds of battle and he doesn't want to think about it anymore.

He turns around and the walls of the box canyon are  _ right there, _ the pale, bleeding limestone, and he can  _ smell it, _ stone and mud and dead men, tastes sweat on his own lip and blood in the back of his throat, and he turns away from the canyon and it's the droid forces again, all of them, and Rex has his squad (just thirty men, they'll hold it for a while, long enough maybe for his men to find a way out).

The General isn't here. Rex doesn't know why, she doesn't fight with them much anyway but normally she'd be there to step in, for something like this, but now she's gone, and there's only Rex and his blasters.

“We can’t hold this,” Kelly tells him.

“We can hold it  _ long enough,” _ Rex answers, growling, bitten off. He doesn’t mean to. He tries to close his mouth and not say anymore, because it’s not real. It’s not. He grimaces, shuts his eyes and rubs his forehead with shaky, bruising fingers.

Real or not, the scrape of metal on stone still grates horrible in his ears, and blasters prime and then there’s blasterfire and he knows it’s not real, they aren’t here, but there are screams from the  _ vode _ around him and laughter from somewhere and he swears he can still smell it, doesn’t want to open his eyes.

He told Fives they needed to regroup, they need to  _ get out, _ he-

It’s been a long time, but he still remembers how long it took, recognizes the screams and the gasping and remembers his own fevered yelling, so when he  _ knows _ it happens, he twists to look back at the box canyon, sees his  _ vode, _ riddled with blasterfire and falling, and he should be there too but this time they don’t even have him but he  _ remembers _ falling, half-feels the pain of it, everywhere, and the droid army sweeps into the canyon after Rex's battalion.

Rex  _ cannot, will not _ see all this again, doesn’t want to hear it either, and he’s sure he’s not there again, he’s  _ not, _ so he closes his eyes, tight, curls his hands into fists and reminds himself it’s a hallway, there are walls and real  _ vode _ and there’s-

Tano. She doesn’t look like his memories, she’s not a  _ vod _ that he might see die, he can- He opens his eyes, brushes past Akaan, who flinches and then grabs onto his arm, and Rex lets him, because his  _ vod _ is right here, is real.

Seeing Tano focuses him, a little. Togruta, distinctive, sitting down, definitely not in a battle, shivering and crying a little and talking softly to herself. He can still  _ hear it, _ though, there are screams, so many, all the brothers he was trying to protect, and he couldn’t get to them and he couldn’t stop the droids and he couldn’t even get up, couldn’t find the strength to force himself to his feet till they were gone and- He  _ can’t do this _ again so he growls and shakes his head and says, “Tano. Hey, Tano, get a grip and look at me.”

Tano looks up, slow and flinchy and anxious, and for a minute she meets his eyes and that helps. Then her eyes flick to somewhere past his shoulder, go wider, and she flinches and presses closer back against the wall. “I can't,” she rasps, mouth twisting.

Rex steels himself against everything he can  _ hear _ and settles himself in a low crouch in front of Tano, recognizes her look enough to know he should stay a bit back.  _ “Udesii,” _ he says, corrects himself, “Take it easy. I don’t know what you’re seeing, Tano, but it’s not- real.” It’s  _ not. _

“I  _ know,” _ she says, and he also hears  _ but it doesn’t matter, _ because it really  _ doesn’t. _ “Molec’s dead, but- I- I told you about the Force god that possessed me,” she did, and that focuses Rex some too because he still doesn’t kriffing  _ get _ that whole thing, “and he- he might be, I don’t know, how do you kill a god?” She puts her forehead back against her knees, suddenly jerks a little with a flinch.

“Good question,” Rex says, as steady as he can manage (which isn’t much, he hurts, and he just- he  _ can’t look behind him). _ “You ever tried?”

“Yeah,” she says, hoarsely, nodding a little bit. “I- well, Anakin did.” Rex nods, more or less to himself, settles back on his heels. After a second, Tano opens her eyes, dark blue in the red light, to look at him, expression twisting a little, occasionally, when she winces.

“Well, how’d that go?” Rex asks, wryly. “Considering you’re here and alive, I’m guessing not too bad.”

There’s not so much noise anymore, but that’s- it’s worse, it’s- It means they’re all dead. Akaan’s hand tightens on Rex’s arm, and he thinks maybe Akaan is seeing almost the same thing he is.

“I- don’t know,” Tano half whispers. She’s quiet for a moment, again, taking slow, measured breaths. Rex imitates how she’s breathing, because maybe it will help, sets a hand on the stone floor beneath him because it’s smooth and cool. “Anakin ignited a lightsaber through him. But…” She stops, swallows. “He chained me to a wall. Before he possessed me. And he appeared as this weird creature, and I keep seeing him, or sometimes Molec, and I- they both keep  _ touching _ me.”

Rex steels himself and looks around, quickly (there’s bodies  _ everywhere  _ on the floor and he can  _ taste it, _ again, rot and mud and pain and-), takes stock of the others: no one looks good, at all, and he- they need to go. They need to leave. “Okay,” he says, gritting his teeth, and standing up, pulling Akaan with him. “Okay, Tano, let’s- We just, we have to try to go. Let’s go.”

“I  _ can’t,” _ she insists, sharply, shrinking back, and Rex forces himself to  _ think. _

“Naas,  _ vod’ika, _ come here,” he says, and his little brother, who’s still curled up and petting Di’kut with frantic fingers, shakes his head very hard.  _ “Come on, ner’vod’ika,” _ Rex says, takes a couple steps away from Tano to meet Naas’ eyes.  _ “What have we told you about when you’re afraid, huh?” _

Naas shakes his head, but uncurls a little, glancing around.  _ “What’s happening?” _ he asks, shaky.

_ “I don’t know. But we need to leave, can you come help me try to get us out?” _

Naas looks  _ small _ again.  _ “Nayc, I- Can you see him?” _

_ “Nayc, vod’ika, there’s nothing here, I think.” _

Naas nods, closes his eyes and rubs them, hard, and Rex thinks that means Naas is trying to focus, so he turns back to Tano to see about trying to get her moving again.

She’s looking at Naas, too, takes a deep, slightly shuddery breath, and says, “Naas, focus on the Light.”

Naas nods, quickly, hands flexing a bit nervously against Di’kut’s side.

“Tano,” Rex says, as calmly as he can, “if we can’t find a way out of here, I think it’ll just get worse.”

She nods. “I know, I just- I can’t move from the wall, Rex.”

“So how do we make it so you can?” he asks, careful. “If I got Fives and Echo to come watch your back, would that help?”

She flinches again, then nods a little. “Maybe, I don’t- It’s too  _ Dark.” _

“Okay.” Rex turns, sees Echo hanging on tight to Fives, who’s talking quietly to him. Rex takes a risk, barks out orders in Mando’a.  _ “Fives, Echo, get over here and help me with your alor’ad.” _ He doesn’t see Tank, for a minute, nearly panics because he still sees dead, everywhere, where’s Tank, he didn’t- he’s not lost, he’s  _ not. _

He spots his  _ vod _ backed against a wall, on his feet, can’t help being  _ relieved. _

Fives and Echo both jolt, but he thinks he made a good call because they both hurry over, and Rex quickly grips Echo’s shoulder because he thinks his  _ vod’ika _ needs it. “You two,” he says, “have to have Tano’s back. We’re  _ leaving, _ now.” They both nod, and Rex turns, looks at Akaan. “Go get Tank,” he says, gently, “and bring him right back over here, okay,  _ vod?” _

Akaan nods, does as he says.

Naas has gotten nervously to his feet, shuffles over with Di’kut nosing along behind him, leaning against his leg.  _ “I can- I- think I can find how to leave,”  _ he says, soft.  _ “If I try, I- can feel where it’s not like this anymore.” _

“Okay,” Rex says. “So do you want to lead the way,  _ vod’ika?” _

Naas nods, quickly, rubbing his hands together.  _ “Elek. _ I can.”

So Rex gets his  _ vode _ close and defensive around him, looks around and determinedly forces himself to look past the canyon and the dead  _ vode _ and the smoke, at the hall and the turns.

“I’m sorry, I- I’m sorry,” says Tano, and Rex isn’t even sure for what.

“Nevermind,” he says, easy. “Can you get up?”

“I-” Tano shuts her eyes, tightly, breathes in carefully, and out. Then she pushes herself to her feet, opening her eyes.

Naas scoots towards her, a bit, reaches over and taps one of her hands. “Focus on the Light,  _ jetii,” _ he says, very softly, nervous.

Tano flinches, though, says, “Don’t call me that, please.”

“Oh. Okay.” Naas rubs his nose, then abruptly leans over, picks up Di’kut, and holds out the scaly animal at Tano, like he wants her to take the dog from him. “If it helps,” he says, small, “you can pet Di’kut.”

Tano swallows, says, “It’s Ahsoka,” then shakes her head. “I need my sabers, I need- it’s safer.” She pulls the sabers off her belt into her hands with the Force, and Naas flinches, pulls Di’kut tightly back to his chest.

“Let’s go,” he says, frees one hand to reach over and pat Tano’s hand again. “I can feel where- where all the, the dark stuff is gone.” He scoots away, back over to Rex, and starts walking, clinging to Di’kut.

Rex follows him, making sure everyone else is coming, forcing himself not to step over the bodies he sees on the floor, to remember they are  _ not real _ and he doesn’t feel them, is only stepping on flat, smooth stone. They just have to  _ get out. _

~~~

Ahsoka wraps her hands tight around her sabers, takes another deep breath, closes her eyes and reaches out into the Force, even though everything is so  _ Dark, _ even though she can barely breathe, can’t think, and it takes too long but finally she can feel what Naas must, a  _ lightening _ of all the  _ too much, _ all the fear and pain and anger. “I can too,” she manages, after a moment, swallows hard and forces her eyes open. “I- I think…” She stops, feels the Force  _ tug _ a bit, and she walks over to the wall, looks closer, although it’s hard to see anything with the red lighting, swallows hard. Because the walls… the walls are covered in paintings, like the Jedi Temple they’re taking shelter in, only these ones…  _ these _ ones depict killings, a Twi’lek woman laughing and glowing crimson-red with  _ lightning, _ a young Human child  _ exploding _ from the inside out, eyes solid gold, just lightning and red mist hiding everything but their face - an Ustura, maybe? Horror rises thick and choking in her throat, and she stumbles to one side and hits a pedestal.

On that pedestal is a cracked, blackened lightsaber hilt.

There's whole _ rows _ of them, she realizes - the next one is a _ padawan braid, _ ten or more inches of neatly-braided red hair tied at the end with blue, yellow, and red beads. Oh, Force,  _ no. _

“I think,” she says again, shaky, “that this is a Sith Temple.”

“They _ have those?” _ Rex asks, sharp, and Ahsoka swallows, nods.

“Back before the Rule of Two was created, there were a lot more Sith. The Jedi fought a war against them a thousand years ago, we thought they were extinct.” Talking helps her ignore the soft velvet of the Son's chuckle, behind her, the way she can almost _ feel _ a collar around her neck. “Until Maul showed up during the Trade Federation's dispute with Naboo, the Jedi didn't even know they'd survived. Darth Bane was the last, or so they thought.”

Rex swears, viciously. “I'm sick of this Force shit.”

She can't help flinching, just a little. It only makes sense - he hates her, so do his men, and she's the reason they had to leave Viridian in the first place, and now look what they've gotten into? It still feels… she's not sure. “Understandably,” she says, soft, swallows.

There's a moment of silence, while they take a random turn and keep pressing towards the entrance (and none of the hallways lead the right direction, she doesn't _ understand, _ and they'll be trapped here forever maybe, and she can't stay here, she _ can't). _

“Ahsoka.”

She doesn't turn. It's not real,  _ nothing _ here is, she-

“Umm. Commander,” Echo says, quiet, and she slowly, slowly turns around.

There's a vaguely-familiar Human man, all outlined in blue, standing between her and Fives and Echo, a deeply worried expression on his face.  _ “Master Qui-Gon?” _ she says, turning completely (ignores the flicker of red-flame eyes behind him). “Aren't you supposed to be dead?”

“There's no time to explain,” the Jedi Master says, quickly. “You must follow me.”

Ahsoka looks around, sees that Rex, Akaan, and Tank all look shaky, have blasters out (and behind them there's the Son's gangle-creature, dragging one bony hand on the stone tunnel floor,  _ chains are the easy part), _ but that Fives, Echo, and Naas all look vaguely trusting, which- “He was Obi-Wan's Master,” she tells Rex, as calmly as she can.

“Oh, yeah, that helps,” he growls, and she winces, a bit.

“I can get you out,” Qui-Gon - if it's really him - says, and Ahsoka turns to him  _ (I have so many plans for you, when you are mine) _ again, takes a deep breath.

“Then do it,” she says. Tightens her fingers on her saber hilts and follows behind the Master's ghostly form as he starts off down a hallway.

She feels like they're going completely the opposite direction from where they _ should _ be, but it's only maybe five standard minutes before they're standing in front of the heavy, dark stone slab again. She doesn't know _ how _ they'll get it open this time - it'd taken all her and Naas’ combined focus and strength to get it open the _ first _ time, and now she can barely focus enough to keep her breathing steady.

As though he knows what she's thinking, Qui-Gon turns to her and says, “Step back, Padawan.”

She does, albeit hesitantly.

And Qui-Gon closes his eyes, extends one hand, and there's silence for a moment before the stone rises, steady and smooth and fluid. There's still rain pouring down outside, but Ahsoka doesn't _ care _ anymore; she ducks under the stone as soon as it's high enough for her to get out, stumbles a few steps away, slumps against the stone cliff face, closing her eyes. The rain beats down, cool and driving, on her face, her arms, mingling with _ tears, _ she thinks.

She doesn't even know what she feels, anymore.

She slides down to sit on the muddy ground, leaves her eyes closed and her head tilted back, tries to relearn how to breathe.

They're out. They're free.

Safe?

She's not so sure about that.

~~~

Rex presses a clenched fist against the wall of the canyon, fights to keep from beating his knuckles against it as the door to the temple crushes shut and there are finally no more dead to see, no more screams.

The  _ jetii _ ghost crouches down in front of Tano, who's huddled on the rocky floor of the canyon hugging her knees, and puts a transparent hand on her cheek. “Take care, Padawan,” he says, warm and sad, and then he's gone.

Rex is glad. He's tired of ghosts, and illusions, and nightmares. He feels  _ sick, _ wants to pound his fists until they break or shout or - just not this. His side throbs again.

Akaan grabs onto him all of a sudden, hugs him _tight._ _“I'm sorry, vod, I didn't- I'm sorry.”_

Somehow Rex thinks he knows what Akaan is apologizing for.  _ “Vod, I told you- Is this is about you running?” _

_ “I'm sorry.” _

_ “I told you, it's okay.” _ Rex hangs onto his brother, like Akaan could make it better by himself, buries his face in Akaan's shoulder. Everything  _ hurts. _

“We should go back,” Fives says, shaky. “Please, let's- let's just go.”

Rex nods, terse, wordless, curls his hands into fists and pulls back from Akaan and swallows hard, forces himself to lock up all the pain, out of the way, chokes down failure and rolls his shoulders back, grits his teeth. “Come on,” he says, half an order. “We can- deal with this when we get back.”

The others nod, and Naas scrambles over and leans against Rex. But Tano doesn't respond at all, and after an initial surge of impatience, Rex takes a second to  _ breathe, _ although his throat feels closed off, and reevaluates. Everyone wants to get out of here, back to safety, and  _ vode. _ Tano is… Tano looks like Naas, when Rex first brought him back. Like she just wants to be safe and not noticed.

But Rex can hardly leave her out here, by herself, in the rain, and they can’t stay here. So he sighs, struggles for  _ steadiness, _ and pads over to crouch in front of her again, carefully. “Tano,” he says, very low and quiet. “We gotta go.” His instinct is to slip into Mando’a, but that will do her no good, he thinks. “It’ll be-” a little lie can’t hurt much, “-fine, if we get back to the temple.”

She shakes her head, hugs her knees tighter.

The rain helps a little, it’s not like- before, and it’s making it hard to hear but that means no screams, means he’s  _ here _ and  _ now. _

“Hey, I mean it,” he says, very careful, like he used to with Naas, eases a little closer to her. “You’re gonna be fine. They’re all dead,” at least, she says they are, and again, if it happens to be a lie, it’ll help. “It’s just  _ vode.” _

He feels a bit calmer, now, is still when Tano shivers a bit and then shifts over closer to him.

He thinks she said the mission to Zygerria that went wrong was recent. If she had not said so, though, he thinks he would be able to tell, now.

He leans forward, reaches a tentative hand out to set on her shoulder, ready to pull well back if it’s a mistake (this, too, he’s learned from his  _ vode). _ She leans into his hand, a little, though, and shudders some before she lets out a very quiet sob. Rex  _ thinks _ that’s not bad, so he sighs and squeezes her shoulder a little, says,  _ “Gar jate- _ You’re okay,  _ alor’ika.” _ He hesitates, a minute, looks her over again, then shuffles a bit closer to her again and risks putting an arm around her.

If he was worried that would panic her, he’s quickly relieved to find it doesn’t, because she leans right into him and puts an arm around him, too, and she’s  _ trembling, _ starts crying very hard. He sighs, tightens his hold on her just a little, tries to pretend he doesn’t need this too.

“Okay,  _ alor,” _ he says, after a moment or two, firm but still very careful. “We need to go back. Your men need you,  _ ‘lek?” _

“Okay,” she says, shakily, and he feels her nod a little. Still, she doesn’t let go of him immediately, breaths in and out, deep and harsh. “Akiva,” she says. The name of the planet.

“Yeah,” Rex says, steady. “Come on, Tano, I wanna get in out of this shit weather.” He forces a smile, to himself, and a light tone.

“Okay, yeah,” she says, with a wet laugh. She pulls back from him and he’s quick to let go, and she rubs at her face for a second, determinedly. “I- I’m sorry.”

“Eh, no worries, Tano.” Rex pushes himself upright, lets her get up on her own two feet.

They’re all in fekking shambles. He’s in no position to judge her or any of them.

They’re a tight, shaky huddle as they start back to the temple, Echo pulling out his datapad in shaky fingers to tell them how to get back. They only have a few turns to make, and it all looks more or less familiar, and so Rex tucks his arms safe behind his back and focuses on the stone around them and presses everything else  _ back. _

After a bit of walking, Fives comes up next to him, says, just audible over the rain,  _ “Vor entye.” _

Rex raises an eyebrow, tiredly, glances over at him.  _ “For what?” _

_ “You helped my Commander,” _ Fives says, weary and resigned, but seeming sincere.  _ “So vor’e.” _

Rex nods, shortly, rubs at his face. He wants to be alone. He wants to be by himself so he can break and be sick and make all this  _ stop,  _ because it all hurts again like it did when he forced himself to get up, to stagger through all the dead and find anyone who was left alive; when he found Akaan hiding, shaking, cursing himself for running away from the fight; when he found Jet and Mix trying to save a  _ vod _ who only coughed out a last breath in Jet’s arms; when Turner swayed barely-alive in Echoyla’s supportive grip; when Rex and the  _ ten, _ only  _ ten, vode _ that he had left forced themselves to walk out of the box canyon, to leave, and Rex tuned his wristcomm to Cody’s frequency (not the Jedi’s, not General Galina’s) and asked him to please  _ (please) _ send someone to get them out.

It hurts like that, right now. Like choking, and being  _ alone _ and  _ abandoned. _

He just wants it to  _ stop. _

~~~

Ahsoka walks next to Naas, quiet, focusing on her breathing, the in-and-out pattern of it, instead of the way she can still feel the ghost of chains around her wrists, a collar on her neck.  _ You are mine now, _ the Son had said, and _ when you are mine _ from Molec, and-

She is no one's, now. But for a little while, she was, and she cannot forget that.

She doesn’t understand why Rex’s arm around her had felt so…  _ safe. _ She hardly knows him, she knows he hates her and would really rather she not be here - she’s almost surprised he didn’t just leave her behind, but then again, Fives and Echo probably wouldn’t have let him. And yet somehow he’s  _ grounding, _ his voice something she could focus on among the Son’s whispering laugh and Molec’s sharp growl, warm and washing over her like- she’s not even sure, but it  _ helped, _ him talking to her, more than anything had. Naas’ hand on hers had helped, too, but after-

After, she just-

She still can’t think, much, really. Everything was too close and too much, all the voices and the-

No. She doesn’t want to think about it.

She doesn’t understand why Rex had  _ hugged her, _ why would he do that? She’s sure he’s had brothers who froze up before, so it’s not a surprise that he could  _ help, _ it’s just… She doesn’t understand. Why would he  _ do that? _

Ahsoka slicks some of the rain off her face, even though that’s mostly a futile gesture, walks faster so she can walk next to Rex - his brother, Akaan, is next to him, and she gives Akaan a wary glance before shrugging a bit and addressing Rex, quietly. “Why’d you do that?” she asks, very soft. “I don’t understand, I- It’s my fault your camp got ruined, and that you’re all stuck here, and that you had to- relive whatever it was, I don’t know, we all saw something. And you hate me. So- why did you help me, why not just leave me behind?”

Rex sighs, says, wearily, “I don’t leave people behind, Tano.” He doesn’t sound like he’s trying to start a fight, though, or like he’s trying to imply anything, he just sounds… tired.

She swallows. “Your brothers would’ve rather you left me behind,” she says, sounds small even to her own ears. “I- I try not to pay attention to their emotions, but- sometimes I can feel them. They don’t like me, they blame me for the fact that you lost brothers, and-” She stops. “They’re right. I’m sorry I didn’t sense the Temple,” she adds, and then swallows again, harder. “And I’m sorry Maul killed them. If I’d been paying more attention, maybe- or if I hadn’t have been so surprised, maybe I could’ve got there faster, I don’t know.” She sighs. “I’m not a good Jedi. I’m sorry you’re stuck with me. I know I’ve kind of kriffed everything up.”

“Tano,” Rex says, still  _ exhausted, _ but now almost… amused? “I know bad  _ jetiise. _ You are the closest thing I have met to a good one.” What does he know, Anakin or Obi-Wan would’ve sensed that Sith Temple and never gotten them stuck inside. “My  _ vode _ tolerate you, which…” He grimaces, “is saying something.” He pauses, takes a deep breath, adds, “I don’t think most of this is really your fault.”

She shrugs, a bit. “I should’ve felt the Dark,” she says, soft enough she’s not sure he can hear over the rain. “I’ve been  _ owned _ by the Dark, you’d think- I’d be able to tell when it’s around.” She sighs, shakes her head, says, “I’m still sorry. I- kind of lost it, back there, and I should be better than that. I mean,” and she tries for a lighter tone, “it’s been a bit over a month since Zygerria, a few months since Mortis, you’d think I’d be over it by now.”

Rex shrugs, himself. “It isn’t ever like that. You just pretend until you are, Tano, that’s how officers have to be.” He sounds almost  _ regretful,  _ and she steals a quick sideways look at him, notes that the rain has completely plastered his hair to his head, what little of it he has. She does not envy him his hair.

“I know,” she says, quiet. “But- I’m a  _ Jedi, _ Rex. And no matter what you think, that’s  _ important _ to me, and- We’re held to a higher standard. So I… should’ve let those things go, by now. In the creche, we’re taught to release our emotions, especially negative ones, fear and anger - those lead to the Dark Side the most - into the Force. That’s why Jedi Masters always seem so serene.” She shrugs, even though the motion makes her dress chafe uncomfortably across her shoulders.

_ “There is no emotion, there is peace,” _ Rex quotes, bitter. “I know.”

“You heard that from your Jedi?” she asks, absently. “I always thought it was a stupid rule, but- We have the Code for a reason, and when you’re raised from early childhood with teachings like that…”

“Yeah, I know your Code.” He sounds so  _ tired. _

“I wish they explained it better,” she says, not even sure why. “Because I try to follow it, I want to be a better Jedi than I am, but- Sometimes it just doesn’t make sense. Like how am I supposed to- just forget stuff happened? Obi-Wan makes it look so easy, he doesn’t act like Kadavo affected him at  _ all _ these days, but I… I still flinch when half the battalion touches me. And I shouldn’t, because I’ve had a whole month to figure out how to release it to the Force. And-” She stops, hesitates, then says carefully, “I’m not sure I  _ want _ to release the guilt and pain of losing men, because- what would that make me, if I just didn’t  _ care _ I lost them?”

Rex’s answer, when it comes, is not what she expected. “If you were the kind of  _ jetii _ that could do all that, Tano, you and I would not be speaking.”

Oh. Oh? “You still hate me, though,” she points out.

He snorts and shakes his head, and she looks over at him, sees that for some unfathomable reason he looks like he’s almost smiling. “Mm, yes,” he says, but he doesn’t quite seem serious. Is he… is he  _ teasing? _

She’s not entirely sure.

“Because, you remember,” he adds,  _ definitely _ teasing now, “I hate all you  _ jetiise _ indiscriminately.”

She winces. “That was… not my finest moment,” she admits, wipes water off her face with one hand. Hesitates, then says, “You’re right, that we shouldn’t have to fight. I just… The war doesn’t care about  _ should, _ you know? And I don’t like to think about it, because then I wonder what it’d be like if there  _ wasn’t _ a war. And I can’t really think about that.”

Rex shrugs and shakes his head again. “I understand. But I- sorry, but I do not want to talk about any of that right now.”

Ahsoka nods. “You’re probably right, I’m not sure- either of us really should be. I’ll stop bothering you now, don’t worry. Just… thank you for helping, back there. And- I’m sorry I got you into that mess.”

“Don’t worry about it, Tano,” he says, but she just shrugs and goes back to walk next to Fives and Echo again.

Maybe he doesn’t entirely hate her anymore. But- she isn’t sure why. All she’s done since she showed up is cause problems, and she couldn’t even manage to fight Maul off all the way or completely fix his side. She doesn’t even know if there’s a way to make it up to him, anymore.

Not getting him stuck in a Sith Temple probably would’ve been a start.

They finally get back to the Jedi Temple a little before full dark hits; Ahsoka stands in front of the door in the canyon wall and musters up the focus to open it, lets everyone else go through before she does, closes the door behind them. She’s so  _ tired, _ suddenly, but she doesn’t want to sleep - she doesn’t want to see the memories she knows are just waiting for her to close her eyes.

She’s sure her men (Alpha, Beta, Dogma, Tup, and Brii) all want to talk to her, and she  _ should _ go talk to them, but-

_ You are mine now. _

Everything feels  _ easier, _ here, though, the Light hums warm against her skin and lifts the cold shadow of the Dark, lets her  _ breathe, _ and so she sits quietly down not far from her men, watches Fives tell them about the scouting trip in a low voice. She doesn’t pay attention to the words, just lets the rhythm of their voices soothe her, lays down and curls up around her tooka cat (who doesn’t seem to appreciate her wet clothes, but doesn’t complain when she wraps her arms around him and buries her face in his fur). She’s cold, but she’s not sure if that’s from the rain or from the Dark, and in either case it doesn’t matter too much.

Rex was right, she thinks. It’ll be alright. She just needs to rest, and maybe… maybe when she wakes up, everything will be okay. 

So she curls up around Shadow (because he follows her around most of the time, now, like a tiny brown tooka-shaped shadow) and falls asleep to the sound of her friends’ voices rising and falling like rushing water.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Mando'a translations:
> 
> Udesii: calm down, take it easy
> 
> alor'ad: commander (literally, child leader)
> 
> alor: leader
> 
> alor'ika: little leader
> 
> gar jate: you're good
> 
> 'lek: yeah, short for elek, yes


	8. Chapter 8

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> backstory is revealed, Things are happening, and we aren't really sure if we're flirting or not.
> 
> everyone all aboard the slow burn train, toot toot!

As soon as Rex gets Naas curled up with Je'kai and his two pets, and leaves Akaan and Tank with Kyr and Mix, and gives Jet and Echoyla a brief explanation so they can keep an eye on things, and changes from his soaked civvies to his blacks and boots (the blacks at least feel like they hide all the scars better than his shirt), he escapes from the atrium full of  _ vode _ and starts wandering the halls, looking for- he's not sure. On the way out, he sees that Tano has fallen asleep, also sees Akaan awkwardly draping a blanket over her curled-up form and then scurrying off. Rex doesn't entirely know what to make of that, decides to not think about it, just leaves and lets his  _ vode  _ sort themselves out, for now.

As he walks, he tries to ignore the murals and the artifacts, focuses instead on the light, orderly halls that make  _ sense, _ looking for somewhere to do target practice, or break things, without destroying something vital to the Temple.

Because he could; he could deface the murals or smash all the carefully displayed relics, thinks it would be satisfying, but he won't do that. Has the sense to know that's too destructive. Never mind that it would be only  _ fair - _ just because the  _ jetiise _ tried to take his traditions does not mean he's going to ruin their Temple. At least, not this one, and not out of pettiness.

So he wanders, shutting everything down, curling his hands in tight, cutting fists, until he finds a plainer hall, with simple doors, and he tries opening one of these, discovering a square room full of training mats and dummies. When the door slides open and he steps in, dust swirls around him, loose and light-colored in the motion-activated, pale lighting. He taps the panel again so the door closes behind him, pads over to the lined up dummies and training droids, hesitates a second before pulling a dummy to the middle of the room. It’s not really a good substitute for a punching bag, but he doesn’t care, either.

He shakes out his hands, briefly debates going back to find something to wrap his hands - but his chest is  _ so _ tight, hurts, and he doesn’t want any of them to ask him questions. Doesn’t want to see the  _ jetii _ or his  _ vode _ who’re so lost and upset again after everything has been almost good for such a long time. So he sighs, grits his teeth, squares his shoulders and curls his fists and strikes out smooth and controlled, knuckles stinging sharp against the dummy with a solid  _ thud. _

He hits the exact same spot, again, again, again, feels the awful tightness bleeding out of his muscles and his chest and jaw, but with the release of tension goes his control, and he shakes out his hands again and the next blow jars all the way up his arm and into his shoulder, tears at his knuckles. It feels better, and he finds a messy, punishing rhythm to keep, so he can feel the effort of it in his arms and back and shoulders instead of the phantom pain of blaster wounds, so he can hear his fists cracking against the padded surface of the dummy instead of all his brothers dying, and there’s sweat in his eyes and his hands throb but it’s better than  _ thinking _ about how  _ he was not enough to save them, he has to pick up the pieces and start again with no one to help. _ He shakes his head, pushes himself to hit faster and harder until the pain in his knuckles is too sharp and he slams his fist into the dummy and leaves behind a smear of red.

It takes a concentrated effort to stop, take a step back, and peer down at his hands, at which point Rex huffs out a weary breath, swipes at his face with the hand that isn’t bleeding, and leaves the training room to go bandage up his fingers. The tightness doesn’t come back, but it doesn’t feel like enough, even though he’s tired now and even though his hands ache. He storms the whole way back to the atrium, weaves around his mostly-sleeping  _ vode _ to get to Sniper’s supplies. Sniper would yell at him, but Rex doesn’t really think Sniper’s one to talk about  _ unhealthy coping mechanisms _ anyway.

He digs out a couple adhesive bandages and a salve that’s soothing for injuries, doesn’t even think about touching the bacta for something this minor. Then he gets up, pads back over to his bedroll and sits down, heavily, noting as he does that Tano has just startled awake.

Rex ignores her. Just twists off the lid of the container of salve, which smells like a mix of pine and disinfectant, and starts rubbing it on his bruised, reddened skin, quick and efficient. It stings the split skin on his right hand, some, but it’s supposed to - it’ll help it, anyway.

Tano has gotten up off the floor, folds up the blanket that Akaan gave her with a bewildered look, and starts (presumably) for one of the doors out of the atrium. Rex looks back down, starts carefully taping bandage over the worse-off places on his hands.

“Do you need help with that?” Tano asks, quietly, stopping as she walks past, and Rex shakes his head shortly.

“No. It’s fine.”

He doesn’t look up, but he can tell she hasn’t gone away, even though it’s quiet, and then she says, tentatively, “Feeling alright?”

“Are  _ you?” _ he retorts, then swears under his breath because he does a shitty job with part of the bandage and needs to adjust it.

“Not really,” she says, honestly. He glances over at her just as she steps closer, crouches down by him, and holds her hand out - offering to help, he thinks, because she’s looking at him like she’s unsure.

He looks down and goes on about doing it himself. He doesn’t  _ want _ her help. “Sorry about that,” he says, flat.

She shrugs. “It is what it is,” she says, and he sighs, because that's unfortunately true. He smooths out some of the adhesive while she sits back on her heels, and he's in the process of flexing his fingers and adding a bit more salve to his hands when she asks, “You were a Captain or Commander, weren't you?” He nods tersely, settles a little and puts the lid back on the salve, rubs his hands together some. “So why'd you leave your men?”

The only thing that keeps him from snarling at her and storming off is the fact that she actually sounds curious, not like she's judging him. As it is, he curls his hands back into fists, feels his throat close off even as his lip curls and he says, “I didn't  _ leave my men. _ They are dead. Except the ones that are here.” That shouldn't still be hard to say.

~~~

Ahsoka goes very, very still, settles more onto her heels, says, very carefully, “What do you  _ mean, _ they’re all dead? Your… whole battalion? What  _ happened?” _

“I mean what I said, they’re  _ all dead.” _ He snaps it, razor-sharp. “Didn’t you hear that happens sometimes, Tano?”

She swallows, says, “It happened my first campaign with the 501st, so yes, I know, but-” She stops. “Where was your Jedi?” She almost doesn’t want to ask the question, is- not afraid, but unsure of the hardness in Rex’s eyes.

_ “She,” _ Rex snaps, “had some other priorities. She was not there.”

Ahsoka  _ stares. _ “What the  _ kriff _ do you mean, she  _ wasn’t there,” _ she says, not quite a question. “She was your  _ General, _ she should’ve been there.”

“You’d think, wouldn’t you?” He sounds so bitter.

“Every Jedi I’ve ever met has fought with their men, even to death,” she says. “You don’t just leave your men to die.”

“Somebody shoulda told her that,” Rex says. He picks at the bandages he’s just wrapped around his fingers, says, “I got ten men out. They were the only ones left, but I fekking  _ got them.” _

“What happened?” she asks, soft, quiet, leaning back and watching him - she isn't sure he'll answer, isn't entirely sure why she's _ asking, _ except that it's better than the memories on repeat in her brain.

Rex shrugs, says, almost casually, “We had an invasion campaign. The _ jetiise _ ‘don't use the Force to attack,’ you know, so she was just running strategy. Woke up one day to an ambush and no _ jetii.” _

What the _ hells? _ “She didn't _ fight _ with you? What kind of Jedi just- abandons the _ men _ counting on them? I kriffing-” She stops, takes a deep breath. “That's what you saw, isn't it,” she says, quieter. “In the, the Sith Temple. All your brothers dying… Rex, I am so, so _ sorry.” _ She twists her lips in a wry smile, adds, “Not that that matters, does it? For what it's worth, though, I- understand the anger, now. It wasn't right, what your Jedi did. Wasn't right as a Jedi, wasn't right as a  _ General.” _

“Funny thing, she apologized too.” He's even more bitter than before. “And they gave me jaig eyes. So it's fine.”

“The Mandalorian combat honor?” Ahsoka blinks. “So what,  _ here have a medal and get out of our hair? _ Wow,” she says, sharp, sarcastic, “how nice of them. That must really help the survivor's guilt.”

Rex laughs, sharp and not at all amused. “What do you mean, don't you think it was generous?”

“No,” she says. “I think it's a kriffing _ insult.” _

Rex sobers, shakes his head. “It doesn't matter.”

“It _ does,” _ she says. “It's not _ okay, _ Rex, it's-” She stops. “I'm sorry. I…”

She doesn't know how to apologize, how it could mean something, so instead she just closes her eyes and reaches for the Force, pushes it at the broken skin on his knuckles until it's smooth.

She wishes she could do more to help.

~~~

Rex swallows and ignores the strange, itching feeling of the Force soothing the ache in his hands, just sets them against the floor and tries to breathe. “I  _ know  _ it's not okay,” he says, low. “But no one else does.” The only other people who had understood that were his surviving  _ vode, _ and Cody. He had gone for a drink with Cody, and Cody had given him a vibroknife and a glass of whiskey.

But he hadn't understood how Rex was angry. How Rex couldn't  _ be there, _ anymore, couldn't pretend he could just fight under his damned  _ jetii _ again like she hadn’t failed him, how when they said they were assigning him a new  _ jetii _ it didn’t make anything better.

Tano sits back a little, with a sigh, closes her eyes. “Some of us do, you know.”

“A lot of good it does,” Rex says, wearily. Flexes his hands some and then wearily starts peeling the bandages back away from the skin. He’d wished, at the time, that his  _ jetii  _ hadn’t even tried to apologize to him. If she was apologizing, then she knew. She knew she’d failed them and that was worse, because she should have been there. If she had been, then at least the person standing between his  _ vode _ and all that death would’ve been able to do something.

“I’m sorry no one was there for you,” she says, and Rex shakes his head, bitterly.

“It doesn’t  _ matter,” _ he says, pushing himself quickly to his feet. “I never expected her to care about us. Didn’t need her to. But she shoulda been there, and she didn’t bother to tell anyone she had somewhere else to be, so-” He stops, because there’s too much there. He doesn’t think the general had ever really respected them. He’s not sure, really. But it doesn’t matter, anyway.

Tano gets up, too, more smoothly, and Rex clenches his jaw and his fists, meets her eyes and half-expects her to tell him it does matter, or get mad, or- he doesn’t really know. “I didn’t say  _ her,” _ she says, instead, softly, setting a light hand on his shoulder. “I said no one.”

“Well, I didn’t have ‘no one,’” Rex snaps, oddly defensive. “I had my-  _ vod.” _ He’d had Cody, and the few that were left. He found them after and that was good enough. He doesn’t know why he’s telling Tano  _ anything, _ he should forget this and go to sleep.

“I know,” she says, still very quiet. “But you should’ve had someone.”

“Yeah, well, what is it you said, the war doesn’t care about  _ should,”  _ Rex says, shortly, and crosses his arms. “Makes you a little sick of it.”

Tano shifts her hand from his shoulder to his upper arm, looks very earnest, but he almost doesn’t even want to hear anything else from her. He’s  _ tired. _ “I’m sick of it too,” she says, and he can’t help another bitter smile. “I’m tired of my men dying, and of- everything we Jedi are becoming.”

“Don’t _patronize_ me,” Rex hisses, shakes her hand off his arm. “I don’t need you pretending to care because you feel _guilty,_ _jetii,_ it doesn’t help.”

Tano flinches a little, and steps back, and Rex could almost apologize but he doesn’t. “I’m sorry I made you think that’s who I am,” she says, and he could almost tell her that’s what all  _ jetiise _ are but he doesn’t. Just curls his arms around his stomach and grits his teeth till his jaw hurts and tells himself that she only healed his hand so she’d feel better. “I’ll stop bothering you,” she says, quiet, and brushes past him to leave the atrium, like she’d been going to before.

Rex scrubs harshly at his face, sits back down, and yanks the rest of the bandages off his hands, dropping the thin bits of gauze and adhesive onto the ground before curling up on his bedroll and shutting his mouth tight so he can’t cry. It doesn’t  _ matter _ what she thinks, anyway, anymore than it matters what anyone else thinks about what happened, and he doesn’t  _ need her to care, _ so-

He curls up tighter and squeezes his eyes shut and tries his hardest to just go to sleep.

~~~

Ahsoka doesn’t spend very long going through her forms - she’s tired and she can’t really focus, and for the first time in a while the forms don’t  _ help. _

She’d thought that maybe she was getting through to Rex, that maybe they were starting to- She doesn’t know. But clearly she was wrong, and Rex helping her in the Temple and him telling her about what actually  _ happened _ when he left didn’t mean much - or at least, not as much as she’d thought they did.

How can she hope to get through to Rex now, if this didn’t work?

Her thoughts are too much, too grasping and choking, and so she shuts her sabers off after a few minutes and hooks them back on her belt, swipes at her eyes (finds there’s a few tears cool and damp on her cheeks) and walks back past Rex (doesn’t look at him, can’t), goes back to the blanket. Shadow, her tooka cat, has curled back up on top of the blanket, and she nudges him, tugs the blanket out from underneath him (upsetting him - he meows, grumpy, and she pats his head) and lays down. Shadow curls up against her chest, purrs, and she buries her face in his brown fur again, lets a few more of the tears out.

_ I don’t need you pretending to care because you feel guilty. _

Is that really how she seems?

She sleeps in fits and starts, the rest of the night, finally wakes up to the smell of food cooking - she’s hungry, but she doesn’t really feel like getting up and going over to get breakfast, yet. She’ll get some in a bit. The memories from the Sith Temple are more remote today, thankfully, letting her  _ think. _

Ahsoka finally gets up to eat after Alpha comes over and pesters her, threatening to tell Kix that she’s not taking care of herself again if she doesn’t come eat, and she  _ really _ doesn’t want to deal with Kix harping at her again, so she grumbles and uncurls herself, folds up the blanket and gets up to get food. Sits in a group of her men, although there’s a few of Rex’s brothers sitting with them now, talking to Tup and Dogma and Beta. 

Akaan comes over, after a minute, acting casual, although he feels tense in the Force. “So,  _ jetii,” _ he says, lightly, “been meaning to think you for saving my  _ vod’s _ ass,” and he jerks a thumb at Rex, who she has very determinedly not noticed sitting a few meters away, leaning against a pillar, by himself.

“I would’ve done it for any of you,” she says, quietly, although-  _ I don’t need you pretending to care because you feel guilty, _ but surely Akaan won’t think that? They don’t all think that, do they? Oh, Force, she hopes not. “It wasn’t a big deal.”

Akaan nods, says, “Weirdly enough, I think I’m getting that about you, Tano.”

She smiles a bit. “What, you don’t think I’m just pretending to care because I feel guilty?” Snorts and rolls her eyes a bit, tries not to sound too bitter when she says, “At least  _ someone _ here thinks I’m capable of caring about you guys.”

Akaan rolls his eyes, says, “You’re being overdramatic,  _ jetii, _ you’ve got my stupid brother convinced. And some of these other boys. I wouldn’t listen to me, though, my judgement’s shit.”

She snorts, doesn’t entirely mean to. “Well, apparently Rex thinks everything I’ve done is just because I feel  _ guilty, _ so I mean…” Stops and shrugs, says, “Your judgement probably isn’t as terrible as you think, though. And I’m not just saying that because you’re being nice to me.” She grimaces, a bit, wry.

He waves a hand.  _ “Rex _ also claims he thinks we don’t need to stay in fighting shape, but the bastard can’t relax for shit. I’m not very smart,” and he grins, suggesting he’s not being serious, “but I do know  _ him _ and these  _ vode _ pretty well.”

“You’re one of the ten he saved, when he lost them all, aren’t you?” she asks, more quietly, appraising.

He shrugs, sobering some, says, a bit shaky, “What gave it away, the old age?”

“Rex told me a little bit, last night,” she says. “And… I’ve been watching the way you all interact with each other. And yeah, you’re older. I- told Rex, but- I’m sorry for what happened to you, and how you were treated, after. And maybe that doesn’t mean anything - Rex didn’t seem to think it did - but I want to apologize anyway. Because we didn’t treat you right.” She swallows, looks down, poking at her breakfast.

“Nah, Tano, apologies don’t really mean that much. But- I told you, saving my  _ vod _ was- I’m basically trying to say you’re not so bad, alright?”

She  _ grins, _ can’t help it, looks up and says, “You’re not so bad yourself, Akaan. And thanks. I appreciate the vote of confidence.”

“Yeah, whatever,” he mutters, hurrying off, but he doesn’t leave fast enough and she catches the blush on his cheeks, has to smile a bit more.

He’s really not as tough and gruff as he pretends to be, she decides, and takes another bite of her breakfast, scratches Shadow’s ears - Alpha reaches over to try and pet her tooka cat and gets a claw in his hand for his trouble.

She sticks her tongue out at Alpha and he flips her off, muttering and flushing very red.

So maybe it isn’t so bad after all - maybe they don’t all think she just feels guilty. Good. That’s good.

She’s not even entirely sure why she  _ cares _ so much - it’s not even likely she’ll see these clones again, especially not Rex, and yet… she wants them to  _ understand _ that she cares. And she  _ does _ care, more than she should, especially about… about Rex. Stupid kriffing asshole that he is, it’s still not  _ right, _ what happened to him, and she thinks it’s the Jedi who drove him to this. That could be it- but no, that’s too close to the  _ guilt _ theory. 

So here she is, stuck with a bunch of deserters, angry clones who hate the Jedi and apparently tolerate her, and she cares for them more than she should. Even though they probably will never return the favor -  _ tolerance  _ is likely the best she’s going to get, especially out of Rex, given what’s happened to them.

That should be a good thing.

But her eyes find Rex again, where he’s still sitting off by himself, and she remembers him so tense and aching the night before, and something  _ twists _ inside her chest. It twists more, worse, when she thinks about the fact that she’s not really sure she can  _ help _ him - she’s a Jedi, and even  _ if _ she’s apparently one of the better Jedi he’s met, like he’d said earlier, the day before, she doesn’t think he’ll take too kindly to her trying to fix him.

Not that she  _ blames _ him for that - his Jedi had apparently been… not the most stellar. 

She just… she wants to  _ help. _

She blinks, and realizes that at some point in her thinking, Rex had gotten up, and now he’s standing in front of her, arms behind his back in something resembling parade rest. “I need to talk to you,” he says, a bit abruptly, and she sighs and nods, sets what’s left of her breakfast to one side and stands up, follows him off to the side of the room.

“What do you need?” she asks, mirrors his stance a bit, doesn’t quite make eye contact. There must be some issue - he hadn’t exactly looked like he wanted company, this morning.

She  _ does _ care, she decides, standing there facing him. Even if he doesn’t want her to, she does. Hells if she knows  _ why _ she cares about his dumb ass, but she does.

Maybe it’s because of Brii and Echo.

“I… was not fair to you. Last night.” What? “I don’t think you’re doing this out of guilt; hells if I know why though.”

Is he- apologizing? “Are you apologizing?” she says, and then winces, looks down. “Oh, great response. Sorry. Um-” What does she even say to that? “I don’t blame you for what you said,” she says. Looks up at him, meets his eyes this time. “But- thank you. For apologizing. Because it did… hit a nerve.” She shrugs one shoulder, smiles a bit, just a trace, adds, “By the way, hells if I know why I care about all you idiots either, but I do. Damned inconvenient, you know?”

~~~

Rex grumbles a little, but does crack a grudging smile back. “Oh, I know,” he says. “This bunch is a pain in the ass most of the time. I haven't figured out why I invited them all along, yet.” And he definitely hasn't figured out why he cares how Tano feels, but all the same… He'd known, when he said what he did, that it wasn't quite right, and she's been so withdrawn this morning that he'd decided the only right thing to do would be grit his teeth and apologize like a decent fekking sentient.

“Tell me about it,” Tano huffs, smiling. She pauses, then, tilts her head a little. “Out of curiosity, do you know where you would've been reassigned, if you'd stayed in the GAR?”

Rex snorts, shakes his head. “No. Didn't really care. It didn't make a difference.”

“Didn't think it would, I was just curious,” she says.

“When are you  _ not?” _ Rex grumbles, bad-naturedly (half-smiling though). She has a lot of questions.

“Very rarely,” and Tano grins, cheekily. “What can I say, it's one of my natural talents.”

He chuckles a bit. “Oh, is that what you're calling it. I would've called it a  _ nuisance.” _

She laughs, properly, shakes her head. “You're not the only one.”

Rex rolls his eyes, says, “And yet you haven't listened to anyone.”

“If you'd met my Master, you wouldn't be so surprised. I was taught how to  _ creatively interpret orders, _ you know.”

“Yeah, I'm sure the GAR loved that,” Rex says, wryly, somewhat amused.

“Oh, they really do,” and she grins. “So does the Jedi Council.”

Rex thinks the Jedi Council can kriff itself in its collective ass. “Yeah, gotta love them,” he snorts, rolls his eyes.

“They aren't all bad,” she says, shrugging, and Rex only dignifies the comment with a raised eyebrow. “Obi-Wan's on the Council, you know. So's the Jedi who found me.”

Kenobi is Cody's general, Rex knows - supposedly, when he'd last spoken to Cody, before he left, Cody had thought he was a good general. But Rex doesn't think Kenobi really is as good as Cody had thought. Maybe, but- Rex thinks Tano is still an exception to the rule.

“That's nice,” he says, flatly, leaving his eyebrow raised.

She snorts a bit. “A couple of them are assholes, though,” she concedes.

“Oh, a  _ couple,” _ he huffs. “Sure, Tano.”

“And how many Jedi have you actually  _ met?” _ she asks, and Rex narrows his eyes.

He is  _ aware _ he's not met many  _ jetiise, _ that doesn't mean he's making all this shit up. “Four,” he says, flatly, glaring.

“And how many of those Jedi were  _ actually _ awful?” she presses, snorting, a bit teasing.

Rex raises an eyebrow. “Two,” he huffs, annoyed, but struggling not to be amused and embarrassed.

“So see?” she says, smirking. “Not  _ all _ bad.” Debatable. Very. She reaches over, stabs a finger into his chest with a raised eyebrow, suspicious. “And if you’re  _ including _ me in those two, I’m very offended.” He doesn’t think she is, because her eyes are very bright, laughing almost, and so he leans back some, still with his arms behind his back, and nods.

“Yeah, you’re one of the two awful ones,” he says, lips quirking up slightly. “Right there with good old General Galina.”

Tano’s eyes widen a little. “Oh,  _ she _ was your Jedi?” Aw, shit. “I know her, she’s boring. And  _ apparently _ more of an asshole than I realized.”

Rex smirks a bit, shakes his head. “Yeah, funny how that works.” It’s true the general had been boring as  _ hells. _ Sam had liked to say that she was  _ even more boring than you, Captain, for kriff’s sake. _

“I hope I’m not as boring as she is,” Tano says, teasing, raising an eyebrow.

“No, you’re not boring,” Rex admits. “More,  _ absolutely batshit crazy, _ I think.”

“Now  _ that _ is a label I’m okay with.” She leans forward a bit, completely self-satisfied, and Rex rolls his eyes.

“I rest my case,  _ jetii.” _

She laughs. “I’m not as crazy as Obi-Wan and Anakin. Did you know Anakin once used AT-TEs to board a Separatist ship?  _ In space?” _

_ “Jetiise,”  _ Rex says, resignedly, rubbing his face and shaking his head. “You’re  _ all _ batshit crazy.”

“Yep,” she says, cheerfully, and pats his shoulder. “Don’t worry, it usually doesn’t backfire.”

He waves loosely at his  _ vode, _ deadpan. “I have some compelling cases otherwise, Tano.”

She grimaces. “For the three of us, anyway.”

Rex rolls his eyes and nods. Since Cody is still alive after three years, he figures things can’t be  _ too _ shit.

He thinks most battalions probably have more turnover in leadership.

“Well, I sent out a couple  _ vode _ to scout, this morning,” he says, sighing. “Should be back, soon. With any luck we’ll have some breathing room to see about getting some ships, or at least some supplies.”

“Better be careful,” she says, wryly. “You’ll jinx it.”

“Oh, I have no doubt they’ll find an army of Sith or possibly a new species of sentient-eating lizard,” Rex sighs. “My  _ luck _ is shit.” Except when he ended up the only one to survive out of his squad of thirty-some  _ vode. _ That might’ve been shitty luck too, though. Again, this is why he doesn’t  _ think positively _ about things. Never works out for him.

“Or just a bunch of clankers.” Tano rolls her eyes.

“Such an optimist,” Rex sighs, waving her off. “Let’s be  _ realistic, _ here, Tano.”

~~~

“I'm very realistic,” Ahsoka says, faux-injured, putting a hand over her heart. “I'm _ hurt _ you'd suggest otherwise, Rex.”

“Well, I'm _ very _ sorry,” Rex says, dramatic, and she can't help an almost-giggle.

“You know, I don't think you are,” she hums, thoughtfully, tilting her head to one side and studying him for a minute. “Call it a hunch.”

“Are you calling me a _ liar, jetii?” _ Despite the impressively straight face, she really doesn't think he's offended.

“I would _ never,” _ she says, playfully, arching an eyebrow. “You're too intimidating, I wouldn't dare.”

“I should hope so,” he says, grumbles more like, and she smirks a bit.

“Besides, Rex, I make it my goal to assume the best about everyone. Most of the time.” That's not _ total _ banthashit, honestly, she does  _ try. _ “So calling you a liar would be _ counterproductive, _ especially since we finally stopped yelling at each other.”

“Perhaps a little, Tano,” he says, wry.

She snorts, and then glances over at the entrance to the atrium as the door opens in a grind of gears and stone and two clones in civvies stumble in, come over to Rex, and deliver a report in sharp Mando'a. 

“What's the news?” Ahsoka asks, curiously.

“There are droid patrols out,” he says, sharp, through gritted teeth. “So like I said, shit luck. We're not going anywhere.”

Ahsoka groans, rubs one hand over her face. “Wonderful,” she says. “We're going to be bored out of our minds in less than a day.”

“Tano, that's the least of our worries,” he says, but he's smiling, just a little bit.

“Not _ entirely,” _ she grumbles. “As long as we stay in here and we're careful, we're hidden, we've got shelter, food, and water. Morale is the next biggest issue. And when the men get bored, morale goes down.” She pauses.  _ “My _ morale goes down.”

“Terrible,” he says, oh-so-sarcastic.

She snorts. “It _ is,” _ she says, grumbling. 

“I agree with the _ jetii,” _ one of the clones says, and she smirks.

“See, Rex?”

“That doesn't mean anything,” Rex says, glaring. “Bet over there is _ full of shit.” _

“I don't think he's full of shit,” Ahsoka says, smugly.

Bet grins at her, slowly. “I like her,” he says, decisively.

Rex rolls his eyes. “Sure he's not. Kriff off, Bet.”

Bet flips a rude gesture at Rex, mutters something under his breath in Mando'a, and walks off with the other clone who'd been scouting, and Ahsoka snorts. “He seems cool,” she says, casually, leaning against the wall.

“He's a dumbass,” Rex mutters.

_ “You're _ a dumbass,” Ahsoka retorts, stabs a finger into his chest.

He crosses his arms, raises an eyebrow. “Say that again,  _ jetii,” _ he says, and she can almost  _ hear _ the _ I dare you. _

Ahsoka looks up at him, raises an eyebrow, and says, very seriously, “You're a _ dumbass.” _

He _ laughs, _ surprising her (and his laugh is warm and infectious, and she can't help grinning, sunny). “You're funny, Tano.”

“I _ am,” _ she says, grinning at him. “Funnier than you, at least.”

“Whatever you say,” he says, snorting.

“Commander,” Brii yells from across the room, startling her, and she looks away from Rex, “Di'kut is eating your breakfast!”

She swears. “Kriffing _ hells,” _ she grumbles, rolling her eyes. “I guess it's a good thing I was basically done,” and she looks back at Rex, shrugging one shoulder, like _ what can you do? _

Rex shakes his head, shrugs, an agreement, and she snorts and pushes off the wall, goes back over to her squad. “Fat lot of good you were,” she tells Fives, who is sitting and watching the akk dog lick her plate.

He shrugs. “Shouldn't’ve left it on the floor, sir,” he says, and she flips him off.

“Oh, shut up.”


	9. Chapter 9

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Things happen because people get bored. Also, Rex is a big fat liar, in case you haven't worked that out already.
> 
> Leave us some comments!

Turns out that Tano was (a little) right about the boredom. It's not too bad for Rex, he keeps himself busy organizing their supplies and keeping an eye on everyone and reading up on the news, but half his  _ vode _ are getting restless.

At first, he'd expected this to be a problem for Tano - if his  _ vode _ had nothing better to do, he'd worried they'd bother her and her squad.

But to his surprise, other than Jet and Fives having a protracted and very loud confrontation on the second day, nobody's been especially  _ di'kutla. _ Rex realizes his  _ vode _ are, for the most part, warily and begrudgingly offering her some respect. It's not much, but he thinks they have decided what he has: she is an exception to the rule, not like the other  _ jetii. _ His angriest and oldest  _ vode _ aren't so eager to agree with that, but Rex knows they're watching her, calculating. Rex also knows they're watching him, to see how he acts.

They're all speaking more Basic these days then they have in  _ years _ (which isn't saying much, but still), and although Rex doesn't like it much, he supposes it's better for Tano. So she knows what's going on. She doesn't know  _ much _ Mando'a, but she does know quite a lot of swear words, so the time Turner thinks it would be funny to call her a  _ mir'osikla jetii _ to Jet, Tano turns and tells Fives that Turner is a  _ mir'osikla verd _ and Turner tries to claim that she was just imitating him. Except her pronunciation is pretty damn good and Fives has a very smug look on his face.

Rex has to make a real effort not to laugh at Turner, who twists to complain to Rex in rapid-fire, terse sentences, and swears loudly when they all hear Tano tell Fives that she's never met such an insufferable  _ besom. _

Turner is still pissed. But he's also keeping his mouth shut. Rex thinks that's good enough, really.

He's not going to try to make his  _ vode _ like Tano. They can think what they want.

And he's still not always sure  _ he _ likes Tano, anyway. Oh, sure, she's  _ nice. _ Kinda funny, not careless of his brothers, generally cheerful, but she's also a damned idealistic  _ di'kut. _ She’s got this idea that just because  _ she’s _ a  _ jetii _ and  _ she _ wouldn’t act a certain way, than neither would most other  _ jetiise. _ Rex thinks she’s got her head in the kriffing  _ stars. _

But it’s not the worst, really. In a way, it’s almost nice - somehow or other, she’s usually in a good mood. When it’s not first thing in the morning (with precious little caf because they’ve gotta  _ ration it _ and it’s  _ almost gone),  _ he likes there being somebody around that isn’t  _ constantly  _ grouchy.

Well, more or less. When they all get  _ really _ bored, on about the fourth day since his scouting team came back with just bad news (and although he’s sent out a couple more scouts, the news is always the same - there are more droids around, now), nobody’s in a good mood except Brii and Naas and Tano’s trooper, Alpha, who all comfortably busy themselves with their own hobbies. Everyone  _ else _ is employing themselves in target practice at the walls, and Rex has had to tell Terra and Jet that if they touch  _ anything _ in the Temple he’s going to kick their asses. The edgy awkwardness they’d all originally felt in the  _ jetiise’s  _ sacred place has worn well away, and it’s only Rex and (for a few of them) Tano who are keeping some of his  _ vode _ from desecrating the place.

On the fourth day, Rex is bothered enough about the whole thing to go out to look around on his own, see if he can figure out why the  _ kriff _ the droid patrols haven’t let up. He goes out with Brii (whose civvies are a little too noticeable for a scouting mission, too much paint, but Brii’s observant so Rex calls it a fair trade-off), and they don’t find much of anything. There are still patrols, but Rex thinks that their main goal isn’t to find them - he’s not sure whether it matters what the droids are doing, but he doesn’t like that there’s still so many of them. He’s gonna have to get Jet to weigh in - he’s good at strategy. And probably Tano, too.

He and Brii take the long way back to the Temple, and Brii gets them back in.

For a minute, Rex thinks that despite all their best efforts, a fight has broken out: his  _ vode _ are all gathered in a circle, talking and yelling and, he realizes, cheering. He can hear the impact of blows, too, but since when he walks over he can see bets exchanging hands, he guesses it's probably sparring.

There are worse ways to get energy out, he knows.

He walks over with Brii, easily shoulders his way through his packed  _ vode, _ and finds Akaan near the middle of the crowd.

From there, he can also see that some of his  _ vode _ are standing in a neat ring, and in the middle of all of them are  _ Tano _ and his  _ vod _ Vet, squaring off. More or less. Vet looks beat, Rex gives him a minute, max. Because Tano looks pretty damn relaxed and light on her feet.

_ “She's beating everybody,”  _ Akaan says, pleased.  _ “Kicked Jet's ass.” _

Rex raises an eyebrow. Not bad.  _ “How'd he take that?”  _ Tano dodges a poorly-timed kick from Vet, catches his leg and neatly twists him off-balance, knocks him flat on his face with the Force.

_ “Oh, like you'd think. Not so well.” _

Rex laughs a little, nods to himself as Tano gets Vet pinned well enough that his  _ vod _ has to tap out.  _ “He's a dumbass, anyway. Probably needed to get his ass handed to him, it's been a while.” _

He thinks that Tano is good at this, for a  _ jetii. _ He's a little curious  _ how _ good.

~~~

By the fourth day of being trapped inside the Temple with nothing to do, Ahsoka is going stir-crazy. So when one of Rex’s brothers, Chip, starts making comments about her fighting ability, she’s more than willing to prove a point.

“You think I can’t hold my own against you,” she says, raising an eyebrow.

Chip lifts his chin. “I  _ know _ you can’t,  _ jetii,” _ he says, and she grins, slowly.

“Would you like to make that a  _ bet?” _

There’s an excited murmur starting to make its way around their camp as the men start to notice the interaction, but Ahsoka doesn’t pay attention to that, just lightly pulls her sabers off her belt and hands them to Fives (who looks  _ very _ smug), walks a bit closer to Chip, eyebrow still raised.

“Sure,” Chip says, defiant. “I’m not worried about you, Tano.”

She  _ smirks. _ “You should be.”

Rex’s men start gathering in a circle as Chip bends down and tugs his boots off - she does the same, after a moment, bounces on her toes and stretches her muscles out, grinning. This will be fun! A way to get the adrenaline flowing, get her muscles burning a bit, maybe.

Chip is  _ reckless, _ she finds - he’s easy to fake out, and she gets him pinned in six moves, bounces up off him and offers him a hand up. “Not bad,” she tells him, and he rolls his eyes.

“You used the Force, that’s not  _ fair,” _ he grumbles.

“I did not,” she says, crossing her arms. “Not this time, at least.” Not for anything more than endurance.

“Chip’s an easy fight,” a voice says, and Ahsoka turns to see Jet pushing through the circle, growling and glaring. “Let’s see how you do against a  _ real _ challenge,  _ jetii.” _

She smirks, settles into a light crouch, slides one foot back and lifts her hands. “It’d be my  _ pleasure,” _ she says, and lets him charge.

He’s  _ much _ better than Chip, fights  _ dirty, _ and doesn’t even attempt to pull his punches - he hits her once in the shoulder, hard enough she’s thrown to the ground, has to turn the move into a tuck and roll to her feet, rolling her shoulder and swearing to herself. Okay, so don’t let him hit her.

Easier said than done.

In the end, she manages to get him down by baiting him into a charge and then sliding between his legs, reaching out on her way by and using her hand and the Force to yank him down hard enough to stun. From there it’s easy enough to pin him, which pisses him off to no end, but makes her grin - she wasn’t about to get beaten by this asshole. 

Akaan challenges her next, looking surprisingly determined. “Gotta get my credits back somehow, Tano,” he says, and she snorts.

“Shouldn’t bet against me, you know, it’s bad for business,” she tells him, smug, and settles into a stance.

Akaan fights dirty too, but she learned hand-to-hand from Cody and Jesse, and Cody learned from Jango Fett, so between the two of them she’s able to handle Akaan. Not easily, not really, and she’s breathing a bit hard by the time she gets him pinned, but she gets him down all the same.

By this point, half the troopers around her are cheering  _ for _ her, she realizes, and she can see credits exchanging hands, and there’s a moment of silence, everyone shifting and muttering amongst themselves for a minute before another trooper steps forward. His name, apparently, is Vet, and he’s decent at hand-to-hand, but she pulls on the Force for endurance and is able to outlast him. She ducks a bad kick, grabs his ankle, holds him off-balance and uses the Force to knock him over, pins him easy.

About that time, there’s a brief commotion, and Ahsoka takes a deep breath, turns to see that Rex is back from his scouting trip, standing by Akaan - she grins at him, says, “Want a turn?”

“I don't think so, Tano,” Rex says, and she takes a slow step forward.

“Don't think you can beat me?” she asks, deliberately challenging, smirking just a bit. “Probably smart, you know, I'm pretty good.”

Rex smiles, a bit. “So I've been hearing. But no, Tano, I'm just not interested.”

“Really,” she says, drawing the word out. “I think you're just scared to lose to a _ Jedi _ in front of all your men.”

He _ laughs, _ surprising her. “I wouldn't lose to you,” he says, “but thanks for the concern.”

Ahsoka rolls her eyes, but she lets it go - Fives, on the other hand, does not. “I think you would,” he says. “No shame in losing to a Jedi, though,  _ vod.” _ He smirks a bit. “It's good for my credit stash, too.”

Rex smirks right back at Fives, says, “Oh, are _ you _ betting on these things?”

“Yep. Won every single one,” Fives says, lazily. “And I'll bet Akaan here half of what I just won off him that you can't beat my Commander.”

“Please do it, sir,” Akaan interjects, looking over at Rex. “I’m broke as hells.”

Apparently that’s the last straw - Rex snorts and says, “Alright, fine. One round,  _ jetii, _ that’s it.”

Ahsoka  _ grins, _ takes a couple steps back, says, “Good luck. You’ll need it.”

~~~

As Rex sheds his boots and hands his gun belt to Akaan so he can follow Tano into the ring his  _ vode _ have made, he decides that Fives is wrong. Although Rex has some respect for Tano, although he likes her, although she’s apparently a good fighter - there is  _ definitely  _ shame in losing to a  _ jetii, _ and he is  _ not  _ going to lose to this one.

Tano kicking Jet’s ass is impressive, but Rex always beats Jet, when they spar, so he’s not necessarily concerned.

He squares off with Tano, gets a good footing on the smooth stone floor, says, “You shouldn’t have healed my hands, Tano,” with a small smile.

She grins back at him, baring sharp canines, eyes bright and fierce. “I’m not too worried about it.”

Rex thinks she’s overconfident. Maybe not, but maybe he’ll get lucky and she’ll make a mistake.

His  _ vode _ are being loud and enthusiastic, and Rex tunes them out, some, circles right a little, watches Tano follow the movement. He wishes he’d actually seen her fight, more - as it is he’s got no idea of her style.

He better find out.

He lunges forward sharp (but measured), swings a fist at her stomach, and she launches herself neatly back in a somersault, nearly kicks him in the chin except he twists aside. As she drops back into a ready crouch, he comes after her, striding across the short distance and driving a hard kick at her knee, intending to knock her off balance.

Tano smiles, easily dances out of the way, and he has to quickly compensate for the change, nearly losing his balance. She slams a knee into his hip, a fist into his ribs, and he just barely catches her arm and shoves her off of him so he can pull back and get better footing again.

He realizes, quickly, that she fights like a  _ vod  _ \- she fights like  _ him,  _ really, so if he had to guess he’d say one of her men taught her. It’s hardest to watch out for her using the Force - she fights dirty, but Rex usually spars with Akaan, so that’s nothing new, but he’s pretty sure she’s using the Force to be  _ faster _ and at one point he gets her arm twisted behind her so she just  _ shoves _ backward with the Force. He keeps hold of her, so they end up both crashing to the floor, but it still breaks his grip on her and he’s back to where he started.

Still, he’s pleased to discover that she’s good, but he’s  _ better. _

They draw apart, for a moment, both breathing hard, and Rex flexes his fingers a little, evaluating. She is  _ fast, _ and smart, and she knows how to fight (an older  _ vod _ must have taught her, he thinks), but he is bigger and stronger and anything but slow, himself.

He darts his gaze over to Akaan and Echo, who are standing together and look amused (Akaan, particularly, looks  _ delighted), _ shifts in time to dodge a lightning-fast kick from Tano, who’d taken his supposed lapse in concentration as an opening. He grabs her leg, yanks her off-balance, and she swears and tries shoving him with the Force again - not, he thinks, a well-planned move, but she hadn’t had much space to maneuver. He stumbles back, but he expected it, so he uses the momentum of the push to drag her with him, getting an arm around her chest and pulling her against him so her movement is limited. Tano elbows him hard enough in the stomach that it knocks the air out of him, but he doesn’t let go of her, kicks the back of her knee so she staggers, quickly brings all his considerable weight to bear to shove her the rest of the way off balance, and she crashes to the floor.

She almost manages to somersault back onto her feet, but Rex drops down to straddle her hips, grabs her upper arms and pins them against the floor. She tries to get space to knee him in the back, but he's in the way of her moving, so the one attempt at it doesn't do much. She tries twisting her hips, too, to try to unbalance him, but he's still too heavy for that.

Tano is glaring, and pissed, and Rex  _ sees _ her contemplating using the Force to throw him off. He leans forward a bit, smiles.

“If you try the Force,” he says, lightly, “I'm just gonna drag you with me again, Tano. You wanna call it a round?”

“No,” she growls, swearing under her breath and straining hard against his hands. She's strong, for her size, but he has all the advantage at the moment. “Cody, Jesse, and Fives are the only ones who can turn the Force against me,” she complains, and Rex pretends not to care that she brought up Cody. (She knows him, though, maybe she can- tell him how Cody is, is all.)

“Seems like they aren't the only ones after all,” he says, commiseratingly. “Pity, Tano.”

She swears in a language he doesn't know, and narrows her bright blue eyes, challenging. “Let me  _ up.” _

“Somehow, Tano, I think if I do you're gonna try to hit me again, and I did say  _ one round.” _ Rex shrugs slightly, shoots a small smirk at Fives, because he  _ can. _

“Asshole,” Tano says quietly, with a huff, making Rex grin a bit. “Yes, I'm going to try to hit you again,” she says, like she's daring him.

Rex sighs, regretfully, and shrugs. “Then I guess we're stuck here,  _ jetii.” _ Until she admits he kriffing  _ beat her,  _ anyway. For the sake of Akaan's credits, of course.

~~~

Ahsoka narrows her eyes, glaring up at Rex, determinedly _not_ paying attention to how close he is, or the fact that he’s still smirking just a bit at her, or the fact that his _very_ intense gold eyes are locked on hers- no. She’s _not_ _noticing that._ “Or,” she says, tries to twist free of him again (with just as little success as the last time), “you could let me _up_ and we could go another round, and I’d beat you this time.”

“That wasn’t the deal,” Rex says, and  _ smirks. _

Oh. Hells.

Ahsoka swallows, tries to will away the flush she can feel on her cheeks, says, “I just made it the deal,” as snarky as she can manage.

He raises an eyebrow, says, “I don’t think you’re in any position to be altering our deal,  _ jetii.” _

She swears at him again, Huttese she’d picked up from Anakin, swallows, and says, “Fine. You win.”

Rex narrows his eyes at her, suspicious. “Was that so complicated?” he asks, and slowly gets off her, very pointedly not offering her a hand up.

_ “Yes,” _ Ahsoka says, shoving herself off the ground and brushing dust off her dress, sulky. “I don’t like losing.” What gives him the  _ right _ to smirk at her like that, it’s not kriffing  _ fair, _ what the hells?

“Neither do I,” he says, dusting himself off. He pauses, gives her a look, then adds, “You’re damn good though, Tano.”

She smirks a bit, says, “Of course I am. I learned from the best, you know.”

He snorts. “Seems that way. Familiar style.”

She nods. “It would be. I learned from Cody, the 212th’s Marshal Commander - he and Jesse about lost it when they realized the Jedi don’t teach much hand-to-hand.  _ Your lightsaber is your life,” _ she quotes, rolls her eyes a bit. “They don’t really account for what happens if you can’t keep your saber with you.”

Rex shifts a bit, asks, “Good. Are they both veterans? You fight like I learned to.”

“Yeah,” Ahsoka says, stretching her muscles out a bit. “Cody’s first batch, he was on Geonosis the first - he learned from Jango Fett. Taught me a bunch of Jango’s moves, apparently, except we had to adjust them for me because I’m small. And I was even smaller when he started teaching me. Jesse’s my Captain, he’s not as old as Cody but he’s pretty old. He’s been with the 501st since before I became Anakin’s padawan.” She shrugs a bit.

He nods, says, “Well, you’re good,” and then pushes through the slowly-dispersing crowd of his brothers to stand by Akaan again.

Huh. Odd. Ahsoka shrugs, goes and gets her sabers and boots from Fives, who’s very invested in alternating between giving her some  _ quite _ suspicious looks and glancing over at Rex and Akaan, who are having an animated (on Akaan’s end) conversation in Mando’a. “What was  _ that _ all about, Commander?” Fives asks, after a minute.

She furrows her brow at him. “Apparently he’s just better than I am,” she says, reluctantly.

“That’s not what I meant.”

“What did you mean then?” She bends down, pulls her boots on again.

“You  _ know _ what I meant. You’ve been-  _ flirting _ with him, sir.”

“I have  _ not,” _ Ahsoka says, indignantly, standing up and crossing her arms. “He’s a stupid asshole and he’s  _ barely _ even pretty, why would I flirt with him?”

“Hells if I know,” Fives says. “But you have been, I watched you. And the other day, before that scouting trip-”

“Don’t you  _ dare,” _ Ahsoka mutters, drops her gaze to the floor, feeling a blush crawl up her cheeks. “Shut  _ up, _ Fives.”

“I kriffing  _ knew it,” _ he says. “You were  _ staring.” _

“I was not!”  _ Kriff, _ she hopes Rex isn’t paying attention to this, that’d be so  _ embarrassing. _ Honestly, so maybe he’s quite a bit more handsome than she’d realized, and he’s snarky and wry and witty and- maybe a bit funny, but she certainly doesn’t  _ like _ him, and she was  _ not staring. _ Even if he  _ does _ happen to have some of the most impressive muscles she’s ever seen.

Fives grumbles, but he drops the subject, thankfully, and Ahsoka pushes past him to go pick up Shadow, muttering to herself. Shadow won’t accuse her of-  _ staring. _ Or of- other things. Cats are good like that.

She was  _ not staring, _ and she was  _ not _ distracted during their spar, and she does  _ not _ like Rex.

Fives can kriffing go to hells.

~~~

Rex goes over to Akaan to get away from talking to Tano, but it’s really no better - Akaan is staring at him through narrowed eyes, almost disapproving, more confused.  _ “What the kriff was that banthashit?” _ he asks, in Mando’a, and Rex frowns.

_ “I won,”  _ he says.  _ “Wasn’t that the point?” _

_ “No, dipshit,” _ Akaan sighs, gesturing loosely in front of him.  _ “You acting like you don’t know Cody. What was  _ **_that?”_ **

Rex shrugs, careless, shaking his head.  _ “It’s not really Tano’s business who I know, and it wasn’t relevant.” _

_ “Get outta here with that shit, Rex.” _ Akaan rolls his eyes.  _ “You kriffing asked her if one of our batchmates was a veteran. You asked her if your  _ **_ori’vod_ ** _ was a veteran trooper. She could get you back in contact with him, dumbass.” _

_ “Yeah, I’m not gonna talk to a jetii about my ori’vod,” _ Rex says.

Akaan gives him a look like he’s completely lost it, but it isn’t  _ just _ that Rex doesn’t want to tell Tano about Cody. He could manage that, it’s just- He left Cody without so much as a sign or a warning. Rex is listed as dead (he’s checked), so Cody thinks he’s dead, and Rex can’t just comm him and tell him he’s  _ not. _ Besides that, the thing that had kept him from telling Cody he was leaving in the first place, was the realization that Cody would not understand the choice he made. He hadn’t really thought Cody would tell anyone, but… Wouldn’t most anyone else in their batch?

And then the longer he went without trying to contact Cody, well- telling Cody he was alive  _ now, _ after three years, would be cruel. And Cody would hate him for it.

_ “You’re so full of shit,” _ Akaan says, flatly, crossing his arms.  _ “Surprised you can even lie to yourself this much, dumbass. The jetii takes you seriously, too.” _

_ “Ne’johaa, Akaan, you’re dramatizing. I’m-” _

_ “You’re a big, di’kutla besom and you’re entirely-”  _ Akaan claps him on the shoulder with a friendly smile,  _ “-full of steaming banthashit. Get over yourself, vod, and I mean that in the nicest possible way.” _

_ “There’s a  _ **_nice_ ** _ way to mean that?” _ Rex asks, pinching the bridge of his nose.  _ “What are you even saying?” _

Akaan sighs.  _ “At the moment, I’m saying stop fekking lying to yourself and tell the jetii you wanna call your ori’vod. If you’re gonna be stupid about that, at least please stop telling her a bunch of shit you don’t really mean, she thinks you’re a hundred percent an asshole.” _

_ “And I care because…?” _

Akaan swears, flings his hands up, and turns around to march away.  _ “Mir’osik!” _

Rex huffs, dusts off his pants again, and picks up his boots so he can march over to his bedroll and pull them back on, waving off  _ vode _ who are immensely pleased that he won their sparring match. He’s not too upset about it himself - Tano can suck it.

Because he sure as hells wasn’t gonna lose to a  _ jetii, _ especially not  _ her, _ because she never would have let him live down a loss. Neither would Fives or his  _ vode _ , for that matter, which isn’t an option.

He's not about to let her live this down either, though, come on. He's not a  _ saint. _ And he _ won. _

Upon pulling on his boots and sitting by himself long enough that he thinks Akaan will leave him alone, Rex heads over to where Tano is sitting to tell her what he and Brii saw, while they were scouting.

She’s cross-legged on the floor with her stupid cat curled up on her lap, and she looks up when Rex walks over and he almost thinks she blushes.

“Hey,” he says, sitting down. “Since I did go out scouting a while ago, I thought I’d better let you know what we saw. Wasn’t a whole lot, but I’m getting concerned about how long the droids have been sticking around.”

Tano frowns, scratching her cat behind the ears. “There must be something important in these canyons that he’s protecting,” she says.

“Or they’re trying to set something up,” Rex answers. “It doesn’t seem like they’re so much looking for us, anymore; the companies I saw looked like patrols. But I’m not sure, this is a Seppie planet anyway - they should have a solid footing here already.”

“I don’t think he’s with the Separatists, Rex,” Tano says, surprising him a little. “Dooku would have killed him for being a rival.”

“So the  _ dar’jetiise  _ aren’t really on speaking terms with  _ each other, _ either?” Rex asks. “Seems about right, come to think of it.” He absently reaches over to pet Tano’s cat, and gives up when the thing hisses at him.

Tano laughs, pats her cat with a scolding, “Be nice,” then says “One Master, one Apprentice. Maul is competition - Dooku is his replacement, we think.”

“Charming,” Rex grumbles. “So there’s the Seppies to worry about here  _ and _ there’s whatever the  _ dar’jetii _ is doing.”

“Yeah, great, isn’t it?” Tano says, nodding and smiling a little.

Rex chuckles. “Yeah, that’s one word for it.” They’re probably fekking screwed. He doesn’t have any idea what he’s going to do after this, how he’s going to help his  _ vode, _ whether Tano’s battalion and Master are going to tell the GAR about him - at the moment, though, he gives himself some permission to save those questions for later, because right now they can’t even get out of this damn  _ temple. _ “I don’t think any of this has gone very well,” he says, musingly, rubbing his face.

“It really hasn't,” she sighs. “Except for the fact that I was actually able to sort of defend us against Maul.” She snorts, wryly. “I seem to be your bad luck charm.”

Rex rolls his eyes. “Tano, my luck has always been bad. I don't really think you're responsible for that.”

“Well, I’m certainly not helping much,” she says, seeming a bit amused.

“Mm, debatable.” Rex shrugs, because like it or not, he’d be dead if she wasn’t here, and so would a lot of his  _ vode, _ and although perhaps he’d really just prefer she had never showed up in the first place, it’s not so bad that she’s here  _ now. _

The  _ problem _ is that all his plans have more or less crashed and burned to a halt for now, which is partly Tano’s fault but really, with droids occupying Viridian, more or less inevitable - he’s not sure where to go from here. He knows Jet’s going to bother him about it soon, because Terra’s been in a state of almost constant anxiety since they left Viridian and Jet gets really defensive of him.

“I guess I  _ did _ save your ass,” Tano says, tilting her head with a shrug and a little smirk, and Rex smiles back, slightly smug.

“Only so I could kick  _ your _ ass today, right, Tano?” He leans back on his hands, chuckles at the bright, indignant light in her eyes.

~~~

Ahsoka rolls her eyes, lightly shoves his shoulder with a touch of the Force. “Shut up,” she grumbles, huffing a bit,  _ definitely _ not blushing. “That only happened because I wasn't expecting you to be as good as Cody. I guess I should've expected it, you act like a CC, but still.”

Rex snorts, surprising her. “Well, I'm not a CC,” he says, and she raises her eyebrows. “Just old.”

“Consider me impressed,” she says, lightly. “So what rank were you anyway?”

“Captain. First batch, got ARC training. Jango Fett was still overseeing everything.”

She tilts her head, thoughtfully. “So either you're lying about not knowing Cody or your batches are bigger than I realized.”

Rex goes very, very still, face controlled, glances off to one side. “Well, I mean, everyone knew everyone.”

His tone is almost _ warning. _

She shrugs one shoulder. “Fair enough. Not my place to pry.”

“It's not prying,” Rex says, with a shrug. “It just all doesn't matter that much.”

She decides she doesn't believe him. “Sure. The Jedi don't really have _ batches, _ per se, but when we're in the creche we have clans. They're kinda like batches, or maybe more like the squads you're all raised in?” She hums a bit, thoughtful. “It determines our class schedule, among other things.”

Rex nods a bit. “Did you get close with your clan?”

“Some of them,” she answers. “I had a few friends, a few who I really didn't get along with, but- They were my family, some. Most of them are better at the whole _ no attachments _ thing than I am, though, so my men ended up becoming more of a family. And my best friend, Barriss, she wasn't even in my clan - she always watches these dumb nature holos, calls them real educational. I dunno why she watches them when we could be making fun of Hero With No Fear, but whatever.” She shrugs, rolls her eyes a bit.

“What’s ‘hero with no fear’?” he asks, amused.

Ahsoka leans forward, grinning. “The dramatized adventures of the intrepid General, Jedi Knight Anakin Skywalker, as he fights the Separatists across the galaxy… and at the heart of the Republic!” She says the last few words with relish, rolls her eyes a bit. “It’s about the stupidest thing I’ve ever seen, and it’s  _ hilarious, _ Anakin gets so pissed when Fives quotes his  _ speeches _ at him. They did this pair of episodes on Geonosis the second - it was horribly inaccurate, you know, but at least they tried - and he makes this whole dramatic speech about valour and impossible odds before he charges at this massive wall with his saber pointing  _ forward,” _ and she briefly mimics the pose, “like some action hero. I dunno how he didn’t get  _ killed, _ but whatever. There’s also a whole season where there’s a romantic subplot between him and Obi-Wan, which is kriffing  _ hilarious _ because anyone who’s ever seen Anakin around Senator Amidala- er, never mind.” She’s supposed to keep that  _ secret, _ oops. “Also the Togruta who plays me is blue. It’s  _ great.” _

“Are you… serious?” Rex asks, blinking, and she can’t help laughing. “Why is that even a  _ thing?” _

“Hells if I know,” she says, shrugging. “It’s some trash holodrama we like making fun of. Anakin’s too muscley, I’m blue, and we’re pretty sure one of the clones is played by a Twi’lek woman, what’s not to like making fun of?” She shrugs again, says, “Besides, the Obi-Wan and Anakin romance subplot provided some  _ great _ material for teasing Anakin.”

He shakes his head. “I’m fekking glad I left, this galaxy is going to hells in a  _ sandspeeder.” _

“Hate to break it to you, Captain,” Ahsoka says, rolling her eyes, “but the galaxy went to hells a long time ago. The war’s proof of that.”

He snorts. “Oh no, I’m familiar,  _ Commander, _ this is just a new low.” He wrinkles his nose (which is honestly adorable), grimaces a bit, and she  _ laughs, _ can’t help it.

“I think it’s funny,” she says, still grinning. “Of course you wouldn’t, you’re  _ boring.” _

Rex leans forward, smirks just a bit. “So you keep saying.  _ Boring _ still kicked your ass, so what does that say about you?” His smirk widens and she splutters.

“You kriffing-” She stops, tries to will away the heat on her cheeks. “Well,  _ interesting saved _ your ass, so I win.”

“Oh, is that how that works, Tano?”

“Clearly,” Ahsoka says. “Besides, I also  _ almost _ kicked Maul’s ass, so clearly  _ interesting _ has some benefits.”

“I never said you were interesting, Tano,” and he rolls his eyes. “You’re a  _ nuisance.” _

“Rude,” she mutters.  _ “You’re _ a nuisance. At least I’m  _ useful.” _

“What is  _ that _ supposed to mean?” he asks, raising an eyebrow.

She leans forward, crosses her arms. “Who’s the one who even  _ found _ this place?  _ Me. _ Also you would’ve never found the garden without me. So really, who’s the more useful one out of the two of us?”

“We’re measuring people based on  _ usefulness _ now?” he asks, challenging, and she winces.

“Not… exactly what I meant, but I guess that’s what you’d expect from me, isn’t it?” She’s mostly teasing. Mostly. So she smiles, just a bit.

~~~

Rex rolls his eyes, and sighs, shaking his head. “Not from  _ you,  _ Tano. Other people, yes. But the fact remains that even if you are  _ useful, _ you're still just a useful  _ nuisance.” _ He can't help cracking a small smile at that, amused.

“Oh,  _ pardon me,” _ Tano says, with a bright laugh, eyes crinkling so she looks almost delighted. Happy. It's an admirable thing about her, Rex almost thinks. That she's happy like this so often.

Rex smiles back, breathing out quiet and short, oddly relaxed. “You're excused,  _ jetii,” _ he snorts. “Guess I'm forced to put up with you.”

She laughs again. “Well, I'm stuck with you too.”

“Your own fault, there,” he points out, raising an eyebrow.

“As I recall,” with a roll of the eyes, “you're the one who kidnapped me.”

“Because  _ you  _ were the one that was a potential threat to my  _ vode,”  _ Rex retorts, raising his eyebrows.

“I was a threat to the  _ clankers, _ not you, but semantics, I guess.”

“You weren’t far from bringing all those ‘clankers’ to my camp - never mind that I didn’t want you to find it in the first place, since I have to keep these men safe, and getting them reconditioned is not how I’m gonna do that.” Rex is a little wary, as he says that, because he’s still not completely sure Tano won’t turn them in. He  _ thinks _ she won’t, but he doesn’t  _ really _ know her, after all, and he hasn’t kept his  _ vode _ safe this long by being careless with who he trusts. Trust hasn’t really worked out well for him.

For now, Tano’s suddenly-somber expression is reassuring. “It’s never been my intention to report you,” she says, and Rex watches her  _ carefully, _ “even when you kidnapped me. Reconditioning is awful and inhumane and I’d never willingly sentence someone to it.”

Rex hums, a bit, smiles just slightly. “Funny thing, Tano, I think I believe you.”

She blinks, and says, rather shakily, “You do?” as if it’s the most novel idea she’s ever heard. She grins again, though, and this time she looks properly  _ delighted, _ and Rex can’t figure out how in hells he managed to elicit that kind of reaction.

He grins back, though, despite himself, shakes his head. “Yeah. Feels weird.”

Tano laughs. “You’re telling me.” She kind of looks down, and smiles, and Rex finds himself feeling sheepish. “I honestly never expected you to- I dunno, trust me even a little bit. Since I’m a Jedi and all.”

“Woah now,  _ jetii, _ I never said anything about  _ trust,”  _ Rex says, defensively. “I said I believe that you don’t want to get all my men reconditioned.” He stops, waves a hand. “Honestly, though, at this point they’d just kill me.” He’s been a deserter for three years, has encouraged the insubordination of literally over a hundred troopers, and now he’s kidnapped a  _ jetii. _ They’d just shoot him in the head and leave him somewhere. So he’s pretty glad Tano isn’t planning on turning him in.

She shrugs. “Oh well, something to work towards, then.” Strangely, she’s still smiling at him, like she really thinks this is some kind of fun challenge.

_ “Jetii,” _ Rex says, matter-of-factly, “You’re crazy.”

“Thank you!” she says, cheerful, and Rex sits back and chuckles.

She makes absolutely  _ no fekking sense. _

He kind of likes that about her.


	10. Chapter 10

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> We are bringing some friends to the party!
> 
> Except no one wants to come, oops.

The late-night scouting mission is Rex’s idea. With the amount of droids out on patrols (and rather obviously not searching for a small clone force), Rex had brought up the idea of her going out with him and a few of his brothers to get a feel for what’s going on.

It seems like a good idea, so Ahsoka asks Alpha and Beta to go with her, Rex, and Rex’s brother, Kyr. Alpha and Beta both borrow civvies from other brothers, and they set out into the unfamiliar darkness, their only illumination the light from Akiva’s moons. Q

There’s not much cover in the canyons, so they have to stick close to the wall, darting from scraggly brush to dew-coated boulder to low-hanging curtains of creeping vines. Everything is quiet, still, the night heavy and close around them, and Ahsoka tucks her arms in close to her sides, peers around the edge of the rock she’s hiding behind at the droid patrol they’re following.

Battle droids are notoriously stupid, their programming not even intelligent enough for them to run from a Jedi when the odds are low - which, to be fair, is most of the times ordinary battle droids are facing Jedi. Still, Ahsoka’s hoping this small patrol will lead them to whatever it is they’re guarding. Whatever it is, they’ve been following this squad for close to three hours, now, and Ahsoka  _ recognizes _ these canyons - they’re close to where the Sith Temple is.

She signals for a halt, briefly, glances over at Rex, who’s not far behind her and to her left. “I don’t like how close to that Temple we are,” she says, in a low voice, carefully muffled so the droids they’re following don’t here.

Rex nods. “Maybe they set up shop here,” he says, and she tilts her head to one side, considering.

“Maybe. Maul probably likes this place. We need to keep an eye out for him, and for any nasty surprises he might've set up.” She doesn't trust Maul to _ not _ have figured out the Sith Temple's existence - and its visions.

“Oh,  _ lovely,” _ Rex says, grimacing, and she nods. “You're right, though.”

“Of course she's right,” Beta says, mildly, just a touch defensive - she signs _ stand down _ at him. Rex wasn't being insulting. “Sir, Alpha and I saw three more squads coming towards us. I think we're almost to wherever they've holed up.”

She nods, thoughtful. “We need to be careful. Come on.”

She leads the way forwards towards the cleft in the rock wall where they know the Sith Temple is, but on the far side, where they're at least less at risk for getting entangled in the anger and fear and pain the Temple radiates, as strongly as the Jedi Temple projects warmth and Light. Not far past the Sith Temple, the ground changes, slopes downward, a small ridge continuing along the edge of the wall, providing a decent lookout perch. Ahsoka makes for that overlook, ducks down behind a rock and extends a hand behind her, feels Alpha hand her his set of macrobinoculars, gets down onto her stomach and scoots to the very edge of the ridge. Brings the macrobinoculars to her eyes and peers through them, adjusting them for the distance and the darkness.

A ways ahead she can see the squads of battle droids returning, merging into ranks arranged in rows around something she can't quite make out, a huge building of sorts, perhaps. And at their head is a towering, yellow and black Zabrak man, and on his belt she sees a heavy double-bladed lightsaber hilt.

“Always two there are,” she murmurs to herself, recognizing the form of Savage Oppress, once Dooku's new apprentice, and now… Maul's? “A Master and an Apprentice.” She sighs, hands the macrobinoculars to Rex, on his stomach beside her. “What do you make of that?”

~~~

Rex takes Tano’s macrobinoculars, absently, and peers through them at the droid forces, metal forms gleaming dully in the dark, and at the Zabrak man (giant, more like, holy hells) that is apparently also a  _ dar’jetii. _ Because they needed there to be  _ two. _

“I make a hell of a huge problem,” he says, quietly, setting down the macrobinoculars. Forces like  _ these  _ aren’t just guarding some outpost, and he’s a little afraid they’re gearing up for some kind of attack - it looks that way. “How many do you count?”

“Too many,” Tano says, shaking her head and grabbing the macrobinoculars to pass back to Alpha. “We need to get back, I should try and warn Anakin - he needs to tell the Council about this.”

“Yeah, I’m not liking the looks of this,” Rex says, although he’s mostly concerned about what will happen if these droids and the  _ dar’jetiise  _ find where they’ve all been holed up. He also doesn’t like the low rumble of thunder he hears, as he says that, and he wrinkles his nose, scoots back from the edge of the rock, and eases up into a low crouch. “We should head back.”

“Agreed.” Tano winces, taps her montrals. “I don’t do well in storms. Togrutas have really sensitive hearing.”

A few fat, cool drops of water splash across Rex’s forehead and hands, and he nods. “Fair enough. And I don’t wanna be on this ledge when it starts pouring.”

“Yeah, wouldn’t it be a shame if we all died,” Kyr says, sarcastically.

Rex sighs, rolls his eyes, and smacks Kyr so his  _ vod  _ starts back along the ledge towards level ground. There’s not much danger of the  _ dar’jetii _ spotting them, at this distance, but he doesn’t want to take that for granted.

The rain comes fast, but to Rex’s relief it doesn’t really get stormy until they’re safely off the ledge and easing their way back down the canyon towards the Jedi temple. The next growls of thunder are sharper, and louder, chasing quickly after bolts of lightning that are just visible through the thick foliage at the top of the canyon. Kyr trudges very close to his shoulder, muttering in Mando’a about  _ great mood lighting, _ and Tano walks on Rex’s other side with Alpha and Beta behind her. She looks generally grumpy, and considering the fact that the rain is coming down steadily now (although not too hard, so it could be worse), Rex doesn’t blame her.

Strictly speaking, it isn’t pleasant - still less so when he remembers that they’re still close to the Sith temple. Part of him thinks there’s something  _ out here. _

It’s just the dark, and the army they’d just seen, and the  _ dar’jetii _ with his almost-glowing eyes, but everything feels threatening nonetheless.

And fekking  _ cold,  _ the rain is  _ cold _ at night, gods. It’s still not as bad as rainy days in the  _ marsh _ on Viridian, but it’s not fekking fun.

“I want to die,” Kyr says, flatly, shoulders hunched, and Rex snorts.

“Same,” one of Tano’s men says, Alpha, Rex thinks, although when he looks back they’re both equally innocent-looking.

“It’s just  _ rain,”  _ Rex says, although the comment is punctuated by a crack of thunder and a gust of wind. “Suck it up.”

“It’s  _ cold,” _ Tano retorts, “and it keeps going down my back.”

“That’s what you get for wearing a dress that  _ has _ no back,” Rex says wryly. “What the kriff would you do for a campaign on Hoth?”

“Die.”

Rex rolls his eyes, and Kyr says,  _ “She gets it.” _

Tano looks over, rolls her eyes. “Obviously I’d  _ change,  _ dumbass.”

“You don’t  _ say,” _ Rex huffs. “A novel idea.”

“Kriff off,” she says.

Fair. Rex stuffs his hands in his pockets, shivering a little. Damn rain. Maybe it’d be nice to get another set of civvies, once they’re off Akiva. Never mind that he’s still got no idea what’s next.

Tano's well and truly  _ soaked, _ given the fact that her dress isn't much protection from the rain, with the open back and lack of sleeves and how short it is -- really, the whole ensemble is impractical. He guesses she picked it for looks, though, it definitely flatters her.

Anyway, she needs to get a jacket or something for this kind of weather. Showing off your muscles isn't worth getting sick every time it rains a little.

He notices, too, she's beginning to flinch a little when it thunders. He's always liked thunder, some (when he's  _ inside),  _ but she said she has really sensitive hearing.

“Doing alright, Tano?” he says, nudging her arm a bit with his elbow.

“Managing,” she answers, with a shrug.

He nods, huffs out a tired breath and crosses his arms over his chest. “I hate this planet,” he decides, because for  _ kriff’s sake,  _ it rains  _ all the time. _ Granted, that’s how there’s been enough water in the temple for the past several days for all his  _ vode, _ but it’s fekking annoying. Almost as bad as  _ Kamino, _ which is saying something. Echo had told him that this is just a wet planet, in general, when Rex complained about it before, but Echo can take his research and statistics and throw them down a garbage chute. Yesterday, preferably. It’s still too much rain.

Tano sighs. “I’ve been on worse.” Reason number three hundred why Rex deserted. Although he did end up on a marshy moon in the middle of a swamp, so maybe he just picks shitty planets anyway. After a pause, Tano adds, “But I’ve certainly been on better.”

“Most planets are better than this,” Rex gripes, although strictly speaking, that’s a lie. He’s been to Hoth, and Umbara, and Felucia, and Geonosis. He’s starting to think that  _ every _ planet is shitty.

He’s heard nice things about Kashyyk and Naboo. Maybe he should go to those, sometime. When he actually fekking has  _ ships  _ again.

Tano shrugs, making a face. “I don’t know, there’s Umbara, Felucia, Geonosis, Tatooine,” she’s thoughtfully, methodically marking each planet off on her fingers as she says them, and Rex rolls his eyes. “Oh, and there’s that one Pantoran moon with all the snow, and Mortis. Did I mention Tatooine?”

Rex shakes his head. “So we can agree most of the galaxy is shit.”

“I told you,  _ she gets it,”  _ Kyr says, satisfied, nodding and rubbing a hand through his hair so it sticks up at odd angles.

“Naboo is really nice though,” Tano points out, cheerfully.

Rex nods. “I’ve heard. I never get to go to  _ nice _ places, though, I’ve been following the war around.” It doesn’t leave places looking good. Especially when those places were shitty to  _ begin  _ with.

~~~

“No wonder you’re so grumpy,” Ahsoka says, smirking just a little. “Between somehow ending up on all the worst planets in the galaxy on your vacations and living in a  _ swamp _ the rest of the time…”

Rex kicks a bit of water off the ground, splashing her boot, and says, “I resent that remark.”

“I think you hate this planet just because you got kicked off your swamp,” she decides, pausing behind a rock for a moment to check behind her and over to the side, making sure no one’s following them. She doesn’t  _ feel _ anyone, but with a pair of Sith so nearby, she wants to make sure.

“No,” he growls, “I hate this place because it keeps fekking  _ raining _ and there are too many Seppies here.”

Ahsoka rolls her eyes. “I wish they  _ were _ Seppies. Droids are easy to scrap. Sith Lords, not so much.”

“I don’t know, they don’t seem that different to me,” he says, and the sharp comment on her lips dies when she sees the sarcastic smirk on his face. “It’s the metal legs.”

“You know, you have a point,” she agrees, thoughtfully. “Maybe that’s why he likes the droids so much - he feels a sense of kinship with them.” 

Rex laughs. “You figured it out.”

She grins at him, warm, and if she takes a second to appreciate the fact that his soaked shirt sticks to his muscles and outlines them, well, who could blame her? 

There’s another crackle of thunder and she grimaces, looks ahead of her again, debates about suggesting they try to take shelter - the last time hadn’t gone so well, and she doesn’t want them to end up anywhere near the Sith Temple again. It’d been bad enough the first time. “Do you think there’s anywhere that  _ isn’t _ a Sith Temple we can hide out in while this storm passes?” she asks Rex, quietly, tries to hide a wince at another boom of thunder. “The lightning is getting worse and I don’t want to get hit.”

“We didn’t know that place was a Sith temple the  _ first _ time, I have no ideas,” he grumbles. “But I guess we should look.”

They’re clinging to one of the canyon’s walls, for cover and for direction in the formless dark, but they still don’t see the cave until they literally fall into it. Alpha yelps and there’s a  _ thunk, _ and then he says, “Hey, guys, I found shelter.”

It’s tiny, no more than a cleft in the rock, but it’s mostly dry and there’s just barely enough room for the five of them to sit down. Alpha and Beta huddle up together, Kyr wedges himself in a corner and glares at everyone, and Ahsoka sits by Rex, close to the cave entrance, and idly turns one of her sabers over in her hands. The water isn’t the  _ best _ for its mechanisms - she’ll have to take it apart and check everything over, once they get back inside. 

A gust of wind sends rain spraying into the cave, all over her face, and Ahsoka cringes back, muttering under her breath in Huttese. It’s  _ cold _ \- she hadn’t noticed the cold so much earlier, but now that they’re sitting still it’s more present. “Stupid rain,” she grumbles.

She pushes herself further back in the cave, but that puts her closer to Rex, and while she knows one of  _ her _ men wouldn’t mind the tight quarters, she has a feeling Rex probably does. So she sighs and grits her teeth and tugs her knees to her chest, pushes the cold and damp out of her mind.

“I am  _ miserable,” _ Alpha announces, predictably.

_ “Ne’johaa,” _ Beta mutters (also predictably). “We all are.” 

“It’s not that bad,” Ahsoka says, lightly, manages to keep from cringing at a particularly loud grumble of thunder.

“No offense, sir,” Beta says, pushing his wet hair out of his eyes so he can give her a  _ look, _ “but you run colder than us.”

_ “We’re _ freezing,” Alpha finishes, and Beta smacks his shoulder.

“I told you to shut up,  _ ori’vod.” _

“How’d you even find that out?” she asks, amused, doesn’t mention that while yes, she handles cold temperatures better than them, it’s almost impossible to warm back up when she  _ does _ get cold. Details.

“I was in the medbay that time Kix yelled at you for getting heat stroke and not telling anyone,” he says, and she makes a face.

“Nobody  _ else _ had trouble with it,” she grumbles, and Beta frowns.

“Isn’t that the same line you used on Kix?”

Maybe. “No, of course not,” she says. “Probably. I’m pretty sure that only happened once, though.” Maybe twice. Three times?

No more than four, for sure.

Rex laughs, and she glances over to note he’s also pulled his knees to his chest. They’re all cold - the clones probably more than she is. Isn’t, because she’s not thinking about that.

There’s very little extra space in the cave, and every time a gust of wind blows more rain into her face and side she has to fight the urge to scoot away from it, because even just moving a few inches would put her  _ right _ next to Rex, and she’s pretty sure he wouldn’t  _ say _ anything, but she doesn’t want to make him uncomfortable. So she grits her teeth and bears it, amuses herself with watching Kyr huddle in a ball and swear in Mando’a, at the rain and the storm, she’s pretty sure.

“It can’t hear you,” she says, at one point, “so swearing at it won’t help.”

Kyr doesn’t even dignify that with an answer, just flips her off and goes back to huddling. And swearing.

It’s not long after that that the air changes, just a bit, there’s a sense of  _ warning _ from the Force, and something bright and blinding  _ slams _ jagged into the ground just outside their cave.  _ Lightning, _ she thinks, jolting hard away, even though that pushes her into Rex’s side, and then-

She yelps, she thinks, claps her hands over her montrals and curls forward, gasps as a raw, roaring wave of  _ sound _ echoes through her montrals, leaves them ringing and  _ aching, _ and she closes her eyes tight and presses her forehead into her knees, panting and clinging to her montrals. She can’t hear  _ anything, _ there’s just the ringing, and she shakes her head a bit, tries to get her breathing under control. It’ll be alright, this isn’t the first time- but that thunder was louder than a lot of the explosions she’s used to on the battlefield. And she has no idea how long this deafness will last.

And it  _ hurts, _ holy hells.

~~~

For a second, Rex thinks the flash of light and the crack-bang of sound outside their tiny crevice of rock is a grenade. He jolts back hard enough into the rock behind him that his shoulders burn, and when he blinks and realizes it was just  _ (just) _ lightning, he also realizes that Tano is huddled up right against his side, her shoulder digging into his ribs. She is a bony little thing - her elbow is also jabbing into his waist.

Also, he can’t really hear. Kriffing  _ great. _ Feels like it’ll go away soon, the deafness, but  _ ow. _

Kyr makes a number of signs with his hands that amount to  _ fekking shit why me, _ and Rex chuckles, can’t really even hear himself laugh, just feels it in his own chest.

He doesn’t think that Tano and her “sensitive hearing” are doing so well.

He signals a loose  _ All good? _ at everyone, gets back a  _ NO _ from Kyr and shrugs and nods from Alpha and Beta.

Tano looks up, cringing, and signals  _ I hate my life _ with a dramatic wince.

Rex catches her gaze and exaggeratedly rolls his eyes.

She flips him off, and signs  _ headache,  _ with a sharp enough motion that Rex thinks it’s probably pretty damn bad. That and the fact that she drops her head into her hands and rubs at her temples and above her eyes.

Great. It’s cold, and wet, and now they can’t even  _ hear. _ Rex tucks his knees closer up to his chest and shifts so that Tano leaning against his side is more comfortable and less  _ elbows. _

Tano huffs a long sigh and lifts her head off her hands, signs,  _ Cold plus wet plus headache equals death. _

Rex rolls his eyes again, signs at her to  _ shut up. _

Kyr nods dramatically at Tano and signs  _ affirmative  _ with way more emphasis than necessary.

Rex  _ would _ tell him that he  _ always _ thinks  _ everything _ equals death, but GAR sign language isn’t super specific and anyway, Kyr probably already knows he wants to say that. Kyr knows that Rex thinks he’s an overdramatic asshole, and he doesn’t care.

It takes about twenty minutes for Rex to be able to hear almost normally again; Tano still can’t really hear very well, but if they talk loud she mostly can. And they aren’t really  _ chatting,  _ anyway, so it only matters in that it means their hearing is probably fine, and in that it’s far less annoying (and vulnerable) to not have to rely on sight only. Especially for communication.

During those twenty minutes, Rex also gets  _ pretty damn cold. _ They have decent protection from the wind and rain, but every now and again, both gust into the little cave, and since they’re all in wet civvies, they have precious little insulation against the cold. For the first time in a long time, Rex wishes he was wearing his regulation blacks. Tano, who has pressed right up against his side and shoulder, is shivering, arms wrapped around herself. She looks  _ grumpy. _ Notwithstanding the cold, and the situation, she’s kind of cute.

“So,” he grumbles, sighing and rubbing his face. “We can all agree this planet is fekking shitty now, right?”

“Seconded,” Beta mutters.

“Ow,” Tano says, which Rex takes as an agreement. She sighs, grumbles, “How long do you think until this shit lets up?”

“Who even knows,” Rex mutters.

“Based on what it’s  _ been,” _ Beta says, more helpfully, “an hour?”

Rex sighs heavily and peers out at the dark canyon, miserably. “Great. I love my life.”

“I want to die,” Kyr informs them all, also helpfully.

“Go do that then,” Rex huffs, and stretches his legs out in front of him, sticking his hands under his thighs so they’re a little warmer. Marginally. The maneuver unbalances Tano, who was leaning partly against his legs, and she has to wobble for balance and catch herself with a hand on his leg. It’s kinda funny. She shoots him a slightly annoyed look, which he doesn’t think she means to, and then scoots herself back so her weight is only resting on his side.

“No.” Kyr drops his head back against the cave wall and flips Rex off.

Rex mutters  _ haar’chak _ under his breath, making Beta laugh quickly and then glare, like he’s offended Rex made him laugh. All Tano’s men seem determined not to like him, except Alpha, who doesn’t seem to care one way or the other so long as Rex isn’t being an asshole.

Not that Rex has  _ ever _ been an asshole. He is a  _ very  _ reasonable man, thank you very much.

Tano is still shivering, but not so much - she’s relaxed, some, and she feels less bony and more comfortable. Rex sighs and tries to follow her example and relax, because he’s got nothing else to do and won’t be able to go anywhere for awhile anyway, but it’s not easy.

He shifts a little, then feels Tano tilt her head against his shoulder, which feels odd because of her montrals, and she sighs a bit. Her eyes are closed, and it’s strange because she looks almost content. Weird little  _ jetii. _

He hopes  _ she’s  _ getting some body heat out of this, because he’s not really, but then he’s really  _ fine. _ So it doesn’t matter all that much. He wishes he’d at least worn his  _ jacket, _ but this is a jungle planet so of course he kriffing  _ left it. _

Akiva, collectively, as a world, is out to get him, he decides.

Also, though, this could be  _ considerably  _ worse. He  _ could _ be grumping in a corner by  _ himself _ like stupid Kyr, so this is (marginally) better.

~~~

The ringing in her montrals is  _ finally _ almost gone.

Ahsoka thinks she should  _ probably _ move and let Rex have his space back, but even through the wet clothes he radiates body heat, and it  _ helps, _ the warmth. She can’t exactly get  _ comfortable, _ not with the rocks digging into her legs and back, and the gusts of wind and rain, but Rex’s shoulder is solid beneath her cheek and despite the fact that she can’t balance herself as well now that he’s stretched his legs out, she’s still fairly comfortable. Mostly. There’s something stabbing right between her shoulder blades, probably a protruding piece of rock, but she doesn’t feel like sitting up and trying to deal with it.

“Usually I like lightning,” she says to Rex, quietly. “But I like to like it from a distance.”

He chuckles - she can feel it rumbling through her chest. “Me too, Tano, me too.”

“I want my cat,” she says, thoughtfully, after another minute. “He’s warm. And cuddly.”

“He’s mean,” Rex says, dryly.

She rolls her eyes. “He knows who he likes,” she corrects, grinning a bit. “Maybe he wouldn’t be mean if  _ you  _ hadn’t been mean to him the first time.  _ I _ was nice, so now he likes me.”

“I wasn’t  _ mean to _ him,” Rex says, indignant, “I didn’t do anything to him.”

“You were very grumpy,” she says. “But I guess you’re always like that, so…”

“Asshole,” he mutters, crossing his arms.

“No,” Ahsoka says patiently, “that’s  _ you, _ Rex. We agreed.”

He turns and  _ looks _ down at her, and she smiles angelically back up at him. “I hate you,  _ jetii.” _

“Oh, I’m sure you do,” she says, cheerful. 

He grumbles inarticulately, leans his head back against the wall, and she laughs and settles in to wait.

The storm  _ finally _ lets up, after a while, and once the rain’s died down to mist, Ahsoka uncurls herself, stands and walks out of the cave, stretching. There’s a blackened, burnt scorch mark on the ground where the lightning struck, and she eyes it curiously. If the canyon wasn’t crawling with droids she’d take a closer look, but as it is they better get back to the Temple. Also, she’s  _ freezing. _

And they’re still a couple of hours out.

Ahsoka thinks it’s safe to say this is one of the worse scouting missions she’s been on, which given that she’s been  _ doing _ scouting missions for three years, is saying something. By the time they finally get back to the Temple the moons are low in the sky and she wants nothing more than to take a hot shower, put on some dry, fluffy clothes, and curl up under too many blankets.

None of which is actually  _ possible _ right now.

She kriffing  _ hates _ this planet.

Rex goes straight to his bedroll, flops down, and summarily kicks his boots off; Ahsoka snorts and sits down more controlled, tugs at her own boots. “I am  _ soaked,” _ she pronounces, “and I have exactly no dry clothes.” And Shadow is nowhere to be found, of-kriffing-course.

“Sucks to be you,” Rex says, snarky, and she glares at him, because she wasn’t asking for anyone’s opinion, thank you very much. He pauses, though, and adds, “I  _ have _ a jacket. Which I was gonna wear. But it’s over there,” and he gestures vaguely at a small crate of what looks like clothes and armor.

She tilts her head to one side, says, “Good for you. How does that relate to what I said, exactly?”

He rolls his eyes and, sighing, says, “If you’re complaining about dry clothes, you can wear it. For a  _ bit. _ Since you don’t really look  _ warm,” _ and he trails his eyes over her, meaningfully.

Huh. Ahsoka considers this for a moment, then nods decisively and takes a moment to tug off her drenched socks, flicking them away from her and wrinkling her nose. She pushes herself to her feet, goes over to the crate and pokes at it until she finds a brownish sleeve that looks like it belongs to a jacket. She pulls the jacket out (upsetting the neatly-stacked armor), eyes it curiously - it’s two-tone, brown, leather, with a ridiculously soft lining, and she nods approvingly and puts in on. It’s also  _ way _ too big for her, the sleeves hanging down a couple inches past her hands, and she eyes them interestedly. She could- No. She’s not  _ that _ tired.

“Thanks,” she says, and crosses back over to her own bedroll, finds that Shadow has turned up and is sitting on the blanket, purring. He looks very annoyed. “Yes, I know,” she tells him, idly, picking him up so she can sit down and tug the blanket onto her lap. “I stayed out too late. Don’t give me that face.”

The tooka just meows and purrs more.

Rex’s jacket is  _ warm, _ and she’s  _ tired, _ and now that she has her cat she can warm up faster, so she lays down and curls up around her cat, humming a bit to herself.

The Sith are protecting something in this system of canyons. She’ll have to contact Anakin tomorrow and tell him. Or… or she could try and find out  _ what  _ they’re protecting, and wait to tell him anything until she’s got more news to tell him. Maybe that’ll work.

But that’s something to think about in the  _ morning, _ when she isn’t tired. So she sighs and closes her eyes, reaches for the comfort of the Force, and lets herself drift into sleep.

~~~

Rex sleeps well that night, for the first time since Mix brought Tano into his camp - doesn’t even dream. When he wakes up, the next morning, slow and bleary and with a bad taste in his mouth, he credits the good night sleep to his having been cold and tired, and possibly an onset of sickness.

Tano is already up and having breakfast with his  _ vode, _ who are all about as grumpy as they have been; she’s sitting with Akaan, somewhat to Rex’s surprise, and she’s still wearing his jacket. Which is  _ far _ too big for her, so that the sleeves are all bunched up at her elbows so she can actually  _ get _ her hands out of them to hold her breakfast. Rex huffs, slightly amused, and straightens his clothes, pulls on his boots (which are still slightly wet inside, but there’s nothing he can do about that), and wanders over to grab some kind of orange fruit that looks decent.

When he walks over to Tano, Akaan gives him a quiet raised eyebrow and a small, small smile (damn him), and Tano looks up at him with an equally small, and sheepish, smile.

“Your jacket is warm,” she says, in explanation, and Rex chuckles and sits down by Akaan with a sigh.

“Yeah, that’s why I like it,” he answers, shaking his head. He decides not to mention that he definitely stole it. In his defense, the previous owner had cheated at a game of sabacc. Rex had been annoyed, and it was a good jacket.

“And it’s soft,” she adds, looking down and biting her lip a little. “I guess you probably want it back now?”

Rex sighs, shakes his head again. “Whenever, Tano, I’m not in a rush.” Or at least, he isn’t  _ right now. _

She grins at him. “You slept late.”

“I didn’t exactly have anywhere to be,” he points out. Another reason he deserted. So he could  _ sleep in. _

“Already tired of my wonderful company?” she asks, teasingly, eyebrows going up.

Rex thinks that her company has definitely improved with time, even if that’s not saying a lot. But he can hardly say that to her this early in the morning, so he nods. “Yes, Tano. You’re exhausting.”

She rolls her eyes, takes a bite of her breakfast. “Anakin tells me that all the time too.”

“Consensus,” Rex says, simply, tentatively tries the fruit he’d gotten. It’s good, tangy and a bit sour and  _ very  _ juicy. “Might wanna take note of all that feedback.”

“I  _ have,”  _ Tano answers, smirking and smug as her dumb cat, which is shamelessly begging for food. “And I have chosen to ignore it.”

“That’s what I always do,” Akaan muses. “Especially when that feedback comes from Rex or a  _ jetii  _ or both.” He nods approvingly at Tano, shoots Rex another skeptical look.

“In this case,  _ both  _ is correct,” Tano says, smoothly, although she’d seemed startled when Akaan started talking.

“Mm, so ignoring them is definitely the right move.” Akaan leans back on both his hands, rolls his eyes. “Keep being exhausting, Tano, it suits you.”

“Thanks. I think?” Tano laughs, grinning sort of wryly, and Rex chuckles and focuses on his very messy and pretty damn delicious breakfast, and deliberately ignores the grumpy cat still mewing by Tano.  _ She _ does not ignore the cat, and drops it a bit of her food.

He just  _ doesn’t like _ the thing. He doesn’t like Di’kut either. The only animal he likes is Tra’ika. With reservations, because sometimes Tra’ika steals his food.

After a bit, after Rex has finished his weird fruit and sort of cleaned his hands, and after Tano has set her empty plate down for her cat to lick, she leans over with her elbows on her knees and says, “Can I have a comm to update Anakin?” She pauses, then corrects herself. “Actually, can I just have  _ my  _ comm back?”

In all honesty, Rex had forgotten he took her comm in the first place, and forgot that he never gave it back - he  _ thinks _ it’s still in one of the compartments on his gunbelt. He considers, briefly, then shrugs. “Yeah, I’ll get it.” He pushes himself to his feet, runs a hand through his hair (which needs a cut), and wanders over to the crate that he’d commandeered to hold his things, rummages through the armor that Tano had so  _ carelessly  _ messed up last night, and gets out his gunbelt to check for the wrist commlink.

It’s there - or at least,  _ a _ commlink that doesn’t belong to him is, so he takes it back over to Tano and hands it over, drops back down to sit by Akaan, who glances over briefly and says,  _ “I swear, I’m never gonna understand you. What the kriff is going on?” _

_ “Stop being overdramatic,”  _ Rex grumbles. Akaan is one of the few people that  _ does  _ understand him, unfortunately.  _ “And ne’johaa, while you’re at it.” _

~~~

Ahsoka ignores Rex’s and Akaan’s quiet conversation, instead settles the wristcomm onto her bracer where it belongs and taps it until it tunes to Anakin’s frequency. Hesitates for a moment, then says, lightly, “Anakin, it’s Ahsoka. Do you read me?”

The response is almost instantaneous.  _ “Snips! I read you loud and clear. What’s happening, are you okay?” _

“Yeah, I’m fine,” she says, lightly. “Holed up in an old, abandoned Jedi Temple on Akiva.”

_ “Akiva?” _ It’s Obi-Wan’s voice, faint and a bit hoarse-sounding, even over the comm.  _ “That’s Separatist space.” _

“I know. Maybe at some point you can sneak in here. I found a holocron on Sith battle strategies, I think this place is from the Old Republic.”

_ “Fascinating. Perhaps the Council would be willing to send a team to look around.” _ Obi-Wan sounds  _ so _ interested, and she snorts.

“If they can spare anyone. Listen, Obi-Wan, Skyguy, the reason I commed is because there’s something big going on down here, and I think we’ll need an evac. Maybe even soon, I don’t know - the Force feels off.” She blinks. She hadn’t even realized the feeling was there until she’d said it, but now… the Force is just ever-so-slightly  _ wrong, _ and she frowns, considers this for a moment.

_ “We’re on our way in your general direction,” _ Anakin says.  _ “Left Master Secura to handle what was left of the campaign, decided to head back to Coruscant - half the 212th is down with some sort of respiratory shit. What’d you find?” _

Half the battalion sick? That’s not good. But they’ve got more pressing matters. “Well…” she starts, slowly, “you know Darth Maul? It turns out he’s not actually dead.”

There’s a long moment of silence, and then:  _ “What?! That’s impossible, I cut him in half myself-” _

_ “General Kenobi, lay the  _ **_kriff_ ** _ back down,” _ she hears, faintly - good ol’ Cody.  _ “You are still sick, sir.” _

She notices Rex and Akaan both  _ freeze, _ glancing over at them, and she frowns a bit, doesn’t pay too much attention, although that lends more credence to her idea that Rex’s whole not-knowing-who-Cody-is thing had been a front. Meanwhile, echoing over her comm, the argument continues:  _ “This is far more important than a little cough, Cody, if Maul’s still alive I-” _

**_“We,”_** Cody snaps, _“will handle it._ ** _You_** _will stay in bed.”_

_ “You’re sick too, in case you’ve conveniently forgotten, Commander,” _ Ahsoka just barely makes out, sounds like Kix in the far background.

_ “How about  _ **_I_ ** _ handle this?” _ Anakin says, firmly, and Ahsoka snorts.  _ “Snips, I’m going to trace this comm so we can get a more accurate read on your position. How many should we be prepared to evac?” _

She looks up from her comm, over at Rex, raises an eyebrow. A silent invitation. He blinks, like he’s surprised, crosses his arms, his whole body going defensive, like the first couple times they’d talked, like- like he had when she’d asked him about his old Jedi. “Around a hundred and fifty. And a couple pets,” he adds, more wry, but not at all relaxing.

Something  _ thuds _ in the background of the comm, a dull burst of white-noise static.

_ “Alright, doable,” _ Anakin says, easily.  _ “I’ll make space on the  _ Resolute. _ What’s up with the pets?” _

“I found a  _ tooka cat,” _ Ahsoka says, brightly. “He likes me.”

_ “Snips, I  _ **_told you,_ ** _ no animals on the  _ Resolute.”

“You let  _ Jesse _ on board!” she says, defensive. “Come  _ on, _ Skyguy.”

_ “You’re lucky Jesse wasn’t here to hear you say that,” _ Anakin observes.

_ “Doesn’t matter, he’ll know anyway,” _ Kix says, that’s definitely Kix, much closer now.  _ “General Kenobi, I am going to sedate you.  _ **_Again.”_ **

“You better listen to him, Obi-Wan, he really will do it,” Ahsoka advises.

_ “I am aware, Ahsoka,” _ Obi-Wan says, sounds strained and distracted.  _ “Perhaps we should get back to discussing the Sith Lord?” _

“Fair enough.” She sighs, reaches down to scratch Shadow’s ears with one hand. “You remember Savage Oppress? Seems like he’s joined up with Maul, and they’ve got a whole bunch of droids. They’re guarding something, have it under pretty heavy supervision. We went scouting last night but couldn’t get close enough to tell what it is. I’m afraid we’ll need both you and Anakin to help - I fought Maul the first day we were here, and he’s  _ good, _ I can barely hold him off-”

_ “You fought him?” _ Obi-Wan sounds more anxious than she thinks she’s  _ ever _ heard him.  _ “Did he hurt you?” _

“No,” Ahsoka says. Rex gives her a  _ look, _ and she winces, adjusts that to, “Well, he kicked me into a wall.  _ But _ I’m fine. So no.”

_ “Ahsoka,” _ Anakin says, warningly.

“I mean it! Rex had his medic look me over, and also Fives wouldn’t shut up about it until I let him. You should know there’s a Sith Temple on the planet too.”

Dead silence.

_ “How did you figure  _ **_that_ ** _ out?” _ Anakin finally asks, quietly.

“We, uh, tried to take shelter in it during a really bad rainstorm,” she admits.

_ “You were lucky to make it out alive,” _ Obi-Wan says, very serious.  _ “Sith Temples are no joke, Ahsoka. Master Qui-Gon and I encountered one when I was still a padawan, and even without venturing inside we could feel its aura.” _

“If we’d  _ known _ what it was we wouldn’t have gone inside it, obviously,” Ahsoka says. “Anakin, how far out are you from our position?”

_ “An hour and a half? Two?” _ She can almost  _ hear _ him shrugging.  _ “Something like that. We’ll have to make this extraction quick, our cruisers really shouldn’t be seen in Separatist space.” _

“Just have the men on standby, probably,” she muses, staring off into the distance, considering. “The fighters ready to launch and stuff. If the Seppies show up and try to engage us in a space battle, we’d be ready that way - and we only have to hold off long enough to get to hyperspace, anyway. How many cruisers do you have?”

_ “Three. I’ve marked your current coordinates and will continue to trace your comm, if you’ll blip it whenever you change position. We can send a couple transports down to get supplies from your base camp while we evac you, assuming you have to abandon your camp. Stay safe, Snips.” _

“Obviously. May the Force be with you,” she says, smiles a bit, and cuts off the comm. Sighs and shrugs off Rex’s jacket, comfortable and soft and warm as it is, shaking it out and brushing small pieces of cat hair off the front of it (oops). “Here,” she says to Rex, handing the jacket back. “Better get that packed up.”

~~~

Rex huffs, takes the jacket back and tucks it over his arm, trying to be  _ still. _ Never mind the two  _ jetiise, _ that was  _ Cody  _ on the comm, for a minute, that was his- his  _ ori’vod, _ and they’re coming  _ here, _ and he- he doesn’t know what to do.

“So,” he says, forcing a casual tone. “Snips, is it?” He half-smiles, because  _ that  _ is an entertaining nickname.

Tano sighs heavily, glaring at him. “When we first met, I was- maybe a bit sassy.” Her?  _ Never. _ “He called me snippy, I called him Skyguy, so Snips it was.”

“Adorable,” Rex says, rolling his eyes and pushing himself wearily to his feet. The three  _ jetiise _ all talk like each other, he thinks, Kenobi and his neat Core-world accent a slight exception (which figures, from what little Rex knows about Kenobi - he’s met him once before). He reminds himself that one single comm is certainly no indication of what the two  _ jetiise  _ are really like, and that he can’t just assume they will, like Tano, be content letting him and his men just  _ leave _ once they’ve gotten Tano back.

The offer of  _ extraction _ feels like a trap. He doesn’t like it, regardless, and he doesn’t think his men will, either, but their other option is being stuck on a Separatist planet with two crazy  _ dar’jetii _ until he can scrounge together the credits or the plans to get them enough ship space to get them off-world. Whatever the case, he decides he’s going to go kit up and get their supplies organized. He leaves Tano with her cat, goes over to his crate to put away his jacket and grab his blacks and armor. Once he’s gone and gotten changed and kitted up, he uses his wristcomm to send out a PSA to his  _ vode _ here: they’re being extracted in maybe two standard hours, possibly less, to please be ready to go and possibly to expect trouble (although he says that as an afterthought). He himself then focuses on working with his  _ vode  _ on getting all the supplies they have bundled up and packed securely, and then spends a significant amount of time sitting with Naas and gently reminding him that no one is going to take Di’kut or Tra’ika, that Rex is going to make sure Naas is fine and that they don’t have to tell anyone he has the Force. He also has to comfort Jitter, who had been having a bit of a panic attack before Terra helped him calm down. Jitter informs Rex that the probability of them all getting turned into the GAR by  _ someone  _ is extremely high, and he doesn’t want to be reconditioned  _ again, Rex, please. _

Rex tells him it’s going to be  _ fine.  _ He takes a risk and says that Tano promised no one would turn them in - strictly speaking, she didn’t, but she said that  _ she  _ wouldn’t, and Rex is already planning for the eventuality of somebody else reporting them all to the GAR.

He doesn’t trust anything about this.

Maybe an hour after Tano has commed Skywalker and Kenobi, while Rex is in the middle of double-checking all their preparations with Tano, she stops listening to him in the middle of a sentence, turns a bit and goes very still, head tilted, eyes going unfocused. Rex stops talking, crosses his arms.

“Wow, I see how it is,” he huffs, irritably, and she looks back over at him, lips drawing together in a thin, worried line.

“They’re coming,” she says.

Although he suspects it’s not what she meant, he says, “Skywalker and the rest?” Gods, he  _ hopes _ that’s what she means.

“No,” she says, shaking her head.  _ Haar’chak. _ “The- droids, I think. Maybe the Sith. The Force isn’t very clear.” She looks around at the atrium, and the conspicuous  _ single _ exit. “We need to get out of here before we get trapped.”

“Do we know about any other ways out of here?” The Temple is mostly underground, so Rex doesn’t  _ think _ his men have told him about ways out, but maybe he’s forgetting something - if they’d had more time to learn this place, maybe.

“No,” she says, quickly, moving a bit restlessly in place. “But we have to  _ go, _ now.”

Rex swears, goes on his commlink and comms his  _ vode _ again.  _ “Evac is now, boys. Sounds like we’re gonna have company, and not the friendly kind. Get your packs and let’s go.” _

En masse, his brothers are up and moving towards the door, slinging packs over their shoulders and drawing blasters. His most experienced  _ vode _ start forming a defensive circle around the men that don’t want to fight, or are injured (thank the little gods, there’s no one hurt enough that they need to be carried), and Tano’s squad plus Echo and Brii rush over to her.

They all join his  _ vode  _ who are already streaming out the door of the temple, and since Rex doesn’t yet hear any sounds of combat, they apparently have a  _ little _ time. Nevermind that he has no idea where to go once they’re out. That doesn’t improve when he steps outside and sees nothing but can see that Tano is still listening, head tilted, pupils constricted in the bright light so she looks wild-eyed. He draws both his blasters, wishes he had his helmet - he hadn’t bothered putting it on because the HUD is kriffed.

As soon as the men are all outside, in a second here, he’ll see about maybe getting them out of the canyon, that seems like the best bet. That’ll give them the advantage of higher ground and a better view of what’s going on, plus the cover of the jungle.

The temple door grinds shut again, and Rex and Tano both signal for everyone to get moving; in the same moment, Rex’s rattled nerves thrill with anxiety because there’s a long-familiar sound from somewhere above them, metal on stone, and he and Tano both freeze.

“We need to run,” he says, low and hoarse. “Right now.” And he jumps into action just a split second before the hair-trigger click on stone turns into a clattering rush as  _ two fekking companies _ of droids appear at the top of the canyon and start scaling down.

The men don’t need to be told to run. Particularly when still more droids can be heard somewhere behind them in the canyon, and  _ hells _ it’s an obvious set-up, a trap, Rex is sure,  _ gods, _ but they just have to  _ go  _ first and worry about how to get of the trap second.

~~~

Oh, Force.

She’d felt the urgency in the Force’s warning, a  _ scream _ more like, and she nods to herself - a trap. Of course it was a trap. She turns, looks at Rex, says, quickly, “Go, I’ll hold our flank.” That’s where they’ll need her sabers the most, she thinks. Defense. She thumbs the blades on, twirls them, eyes already shifting to scour the walls and canyon around them, looking for more droids.

Rex nods. “You better,” he says, serious and fierce, and then he turns and goes.

She will.

The droids open fire, and Ahsoka does her best, but she’s only one Jedi with two sabers - she can’t block every bolt, not even close. And they’re just retreating in the direction they’re told, back towards where they’d scouted last night, to whatever it is Savage was guarding so heavily. She takes a risk, opens a channel on her commlink, says, “Anakin, come in,” fast, deflects more blasterfire away, dives out of the path of a grenade. “Anakin!”

_ “What is it, Snips?” _

“What’s your ETA? We’ve got half an army of droids backing us towards some heavy reinforcements, definitely a trap, we need help.” She tries not to snap the words, but there’s no  _ time, _ and she misses a blaster bolt and there’s a cry of pain from behind her,  _ shit. _

_ “Half an hour? Maybe less, but not by much. Find a defensive position and hold it if you can-” _

“Yeah, I know how to run a battle, thanks,” she says, definitely snaps that time, oops. “Just- speed that up as much as you can? Please?”

_ “Will do. May the Force be with you.” _

She doesn’t return the words, doesn’t have  _ time _ \- there are a  _ lot _ of droids in front of her. She doesn’t pay so much attention to where they’re going, although she knows they’re still being forced in the direction of the Sith Temple, instead stays focused on deflecting blaster bolts, barely even pulling away to deal with squads of droids. This is about defense, about protecting her men, and just like the cornerstone of Soresu says - letting openings to attack pass you by - she falls back and waits. Redirects blaster bolts into droids, yes, and once uses the Force to throw a thermal detonator back into a clump of them before it hits her, but she sticks to her men’s flank like a magnet.

She’d left Fives and Echo up at the front, although they weren’t very happy about that - she almost doesn’t realize they’ve stopped retreating until Fives comms her.  _ “Commander, I think we’ve found what they were guarding. It looks like a droid foundry, but I think it’s shut down.” _

“Tell Rex we need to get inside, then,” Ahsoka says, swears as she almost misses another bolt. “We  _ need _ cover, and there’s nowhere near enough. If we can get inside, we can maybe hold the place until Anakin gets here.”

_ “What if it’s a trap?” _

Ahsoka grits her teeth. “This whole thing is already a trap. Either we die out here or we die in there, but at least in there there’s the chance of buying time. Anakin’s not far out, maybe ten minutes? We just need to hold.”

There’s a pause, and then the main body of their forces starts to move again - Ahsoka holds her position, backing up slowly, until they duck inside the old foundry at last. A couple of the clones near her help her slam the doors shut and bar them closed.

She lets out a breath, slumps against the wall for a minute, struggling to breathe - she’s panting and sweating, tired already, more than she should be (perks of a late night scouting mission) - and then there’s a sudden shout and lights come on, machinery clanking and clattering to life, and she jerks away from the wall like she’s been burned, weaves through the clones at a run to find Rex and her squad.

_ “Shit,” _ she says, looking out from their perch.

The foundry is most definitely not abandoned.

There’s conveyor belts running every which way through giant durasteel mechanisms that smash the metal into pieces, other machines that weld the individual pieces together into actual droids, giant pot-like things, crucibles maybe, that carry molten metal across the factory - all of it’s working. And there’s droids stationed in neat rows between everything, and standing on a control platform raised above the height of most everything else are Maul and Savage, both glaring at her with a fierce savagery.

“Okay, new plan,” Ahsoka says to Rex, briskly, clapping her hands together. “I’ll keep those two uglies busy, you handle the droids.”

_ “Sir,” _ Fives says, strangled.

“I’ll keep them busy,” she repeats.

“You  _ can’t,” _ Fives says. “You’ll get yourself killed, and then I’ll have to deal with General Skywalker.”

“I can keep them busy for long enough for Anakin to get here, and keep their attention off all of you,” she says.

“My  _ vode _ can worry about the droids,” Rex says, and she looks away from Maul’s gaze to frown at him a bit. “We’ll watch your back.”

“You can’t handle one Sith, much less  _ two,” _ Ahsoka tries. “I’m the one with the best chance here.”

“Not by yourself, dumbass  _ jetii,” _ he says, looking over his blasters carefully. “And your squad isn’t gonna leave you either, look at them.”

She grits her teeth. “I’m trying to  _ protect _ you guys,” she says, fiercely, tightening her palms around her sabers. “You refusing to cooperate doesn’t make this any easier.”

Rex snorts. “Yes, and you getting murdered because none of us slept last night won’t either.” He pauses. “And I don’t think Skywalker’s gonna be eager to let me off the hook if you’re fekking  _ dead.” _

“You… have a point there,” she acknowledges. “Fine. But stay out of the way, I’m mainly going to be… running away, honestly. Just keeping them distracted.”

Before anyone can say anything else, she shrugs, reignites her sabers, and jumps down onto the nearest conveyor belt.

“Hey, ugly,” she shouts, and Savage snarls a bit. “You coming?”

She raises an eyebrow in challenge, and apparently that’s enough for both the Sith to leap from their pedestal and land on either side of her. Okay, shit, maybe this was a bad tactic. Whatever, too late now. Savage ignites his double-bladed saber and Maul his, both of their sabers bloody red and humming, and she ducks, catches their simultaneous strikes, and backflips over Maul, starts backing away down the conveyor. If she can just take them on one at a time, maybe… That’d be easier. Maybe she can handle that. Maul isn’t moving very well.

“Your leg looks a little…  _ melted,” _ Ahsoka comments, and Maul  _ snarls _ and lunges for her, and his saber moves blindingly fast, nearly disarming her.  _ Kriff, _ okay- and blasterfire sears out of the dark, forces him to take his focus off her a minute. Fives and Rex and her squad, she guesses. Alright, she’s glad they’re watching out for her.

This is gonna be  _ hard. _

Maybe impossible.

She just has to hold on. She can do that, right? Just a few minutes. Anakin will get here soon, and then everything will be  _ fine. _

She has to believe that.


	11. Chapter 11

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> DRAMA and ACTION and REUNIONS.
> 
> Also, Rex just shouldn't talk to Jedi. Except Ahsoka. That should be the rule.
> 
> Leave us a comment!

Tano is far more agile on all the moving machinery than Rex or her squad can be, but Fives (who has taken the lead) has them keep a kind of moving perimeter around the combatants.  _ That _ is easy, and Rex may not be practiced at fighting _ dar'jetiise _ but his aim is good and he knows he won't hit Tano. Not unless he decides he wants to, which he doesn't.

It's obvious, even to him, that for all Tano's skill, she can't kill  _ both _ the massive Zabraks - he's not even sure she could kill one, they're both inexorable and powerful and fekking  _ strong. _ Rex can see Tano strains to block their strikes, when they actually manage to close with her. Because she's staying mostly out of their way, utilizing conveyor belts and machines to launch herself out of the way of strikes or, occasionally, completely over them. At one point, she's running and she scrambles up over a hydraulic press, ends up running along a catwalk and flipping entirely over Rex's head, making him have to scramble to get out of the  _ dar'jetiise's _ path to Tano, working to get back around to watch her back, blasters up so he can take a few careful shots at the red Zabrak, Maul. He doesn't hit, Maul spins to deflect them, but it gives Tano an extra second of breathing room.

There are blaster bolts that are not theirs occasionally shrieking past the conveyors, harmless but a sharp reminder that Rex's  _ vode _ are fighting around the edges of the factory, and he  _ knows _ they don't have a chance if they get stuck here. They just have to hold out for the other  _ jetiise. _

Which isn't reassuring.

In the dim, reddish light and the flying blaster bolts, Rex barely registers another projectile until Echo shouts  _ “Commander!  _ Heads up!”

There’s a wayward grenade arcing down toward the catwalk that Tano and Rex are standing on, across from the yellow Zabrak, and Rex isn’t sure if he’s close enough but he doesn’t worry about it, just lunges down the catwalk and grabs Tano around the waist, hauls her with him and jumps off the catwalk, lands off-balance on a conveyor belt and crashes onto his side. Above them, there’s concussive pressure and fire, then a rattling crash as the  _ dar’jetii _ is flung into the gears of a crane system, collapsing in a heap.

Rex groans, then realizes he’s still hanging onto Tano, so he lets go of her and shoves himself upright, holds out a hand to her. She gets up, wincing, nods at him, then turns because Maul is standing by his downed partner,  _ snarling. _

Just  _ great. _

Rex settles in a wide stance while Tano reignites her sabers and strides back into the fight. She seems to be having even more trouble now than she was before, although the other  _ dar’jetii _ doesn’t really get up and Maul isn’t very balanced himself. They haven’t been fighting long, but long  _ enough _ that Rex is concerned. When he looks at his  _ vode, _ too, just white shapes struggling around the room, he’s concerned - they’re doing alright, but… They need to get out of here.

For a moment Tano closes with Maul, teeth bared, swipes a saber at his already-damaged metal leg, and for a second all Rex can see is blurred red and yellow and green.

Then Tano disengages, springs up onto another conveyer belt, calls to Rex and Fives, “They've made atmo!” Then she turns back to the  _ dar'jetiise _ with a smirking grin. “You know, Anakin Skywalker and Obi-Wan Kenobi are en route here right now… You might want to run.”

Maul draws back toward his partner, who’s finally gotten back to his feet and pulled his lightsaber off the floor and to him with the Force. “Maybe you should too, padawan,” Maul snarls. He pulls something off his belt - a detonator, Rex realizes, and he goes on his comm  _ immediately. _

_ “Vode, retreat and pull back to the doors,  _ **_now!”_ **

He’s already running, himself, sees Tano and her squad join him, as Maul presses the trigger on the detonator and then puts an arm under the other  _ dar’jetii’s _ shoulders and runs for it himself.

There’s a series of heavy, roaring  _ booms, _ one after the other, and Rex notices Naas clinging to his bird, and his akk dog at his heels, and maybe a flash of grey and then there’s Akaan and Jet and all his  _ vode, _ and it’s Tank who levels his heavy-duty blaster rifle and blows out the hinges on the door and the bar across it so that when they get to it, it just takes a  _ push _ from Tano for them to crash open, and they all sprint outside - where there are still  _ hundreds  _ of droids, which offer precious little resistance, at first. Rex suspects they didn’t expect  _ this. _

A moment later, there’s just sound and heat and pressure, and some shreds of machinery and metal shrapnel are blasted out of the entrance.

The explosion sets off  _ another, _ Rex thinks, but he doesn’t have time to care because the droids are coming around to their presence with cries of “Look! It’s a Jedi!” (helpful) and “Blast ‘em!” (also helpful). Rex levels his twin blaster pistols at the surrounding clankers and opens fire with  _ extreme  _ prejudice.

He still hears the rumble of transport engines over the sounds of battle, doesn’t even know what to do with the flood of relief except keep fighting, until all of a sudden six transports drop down in between his blasters and the droids, Kenobi and _Cody_ , then an unfamiliar _vod_ and a longhaired _jetii_ with blue eyes, jumping out of one of them.

“Hey, Snips,” the long-haired  _ jetii, _ Skywalker, calls cheerfully. “Need a ride?”

Rex straightens a little, half lowers his blasters as Tano rolls her eyes and answers, “Kriff off.”

Cody, whose armor looks the same as ever, although it’s the new stuff, phase two, pulls his bucket off and Rex almost drops his blasters, steels himself because that’s  _ his ori’vod, _ same old scar and grim-set mouth, and he could give  _ two shits  _ about the  _ jetiise,  _ for a minute.

Cody takes a few long strides, and Rex doesn’t know what he expects but his  _ vod _ grabs him by the shoulders and pulls him into a too-tight hug, presses his forehead against Rex’s, and he’s really here, and solid and scowling and the same as ever, and Rex should  _ never  _ have let him think he was dead.

“I  _ hate  _ you,” Cody snarls hoarsely. “I fekking hate you, you asshole, how could you let me believe you were  _ dead?” _

Rex closes his eyes and holds on  _ tight,  _ for a minute.  _ “Ni ceta,  _ Codes.”

“Kriffing  _ better be,  _ you-  _ Kriff you.” _ Cody sounds like he’s  _ crying. _ “Three karking  _ years, _ I should  _ strangle  _ you. Gods.”

Rex chuckles, a lump in his throat, and buries his face in his  _ ori’vod’s _ shoulder.

~~~

When Anakin shows up, overdramatic and irritating as always, Ahsoka almost sobs in relief.

She’s  _ exhausted, _ and her montrals are still ringing from the foundry exploding, and there’s still so  _ many _ droids. And they have to fight, still, but she takes a minute to run over to her Master, hug him  _ tight, _ bury her face in his chest.

“Hey, Snips, don’t get sentimental on me,” he says, but he hugs her back just as tightly as she hugs him.

“Shut  _ up,” _ she says, fiercely, pulls back so she can glare at him. “I’m not, there’s still droids to deal with.”

“I’m not blind,” he says, and she rolls her eyes. “Or deaf.”

“Anakin, Ahsoka,” Obi-Wan says, and she turns away from her  _ idiot _ Master (catches sight of Rex  _ clinging _ to Cody, face buried in his shoulder, and she’d guessed he was lying but  _ this _ looks like Fives seeing Echo for the first time), freezes in horror. Obi-Wan is  _ pale, _ shadows under his eyes, hand too-tight around his saber, but determined. “We have more important things to worry about. Where is Maul?”

Ahsoka shrugs. “I don’t know,” she says. “I was fighting him and Savage in that droid foundry, but then when he found out you were coming he blew it up.”

“You fought  _ both of them? _ Kriffing  _ hells, _ Ahsoka!” Anakin shoves a hand through his hair, then ducks out of the way of a stray blaster bolt.

“I did what I had to do to keep them away from my men,” she says, casually. Flicks her saber out to deflect a few blaster bolts, adds, “We better get everyone loaded up if we want to make it out of here unscathed.”

“She’s right,” Obi-Wan says, although he’s somehow even paler now. “Cody, we’re short on time.”

Cody pulls away from Rex, reluctantly, swipes at his face- is he  _ crying? _ Oh. “Copy that, sir.  _ Ori’vod, _ we should put your wounded and the  _ vode _ who don’t want to fight into the first transports.”

“You know,” Ahsoka says, conversational, moving back over to her previous spot by Rex, “I thought you said you didn’t have an  _ ori’vod, _ Rex.”

Cody turns, face suddenly,  _ perfectly _ blank. “What?” he asks, calmly, and she winces.

Maybe this was a bad time for that.

Rex just grimaces, doesn’t look at Cody, says, “Yeah, Tano, because it wasn’t any of your  _ business.” _

“You pretended you didn’t  _ know him,” _ she says, and then shrugs. “But fair enough, I guess. Anyway, we’ve got-” and she cuts off, lunges in front of Cody to block a couple blaster bolts, “-more pressing problems to deal with.”

Rex nods, starts barking orders in Mando’a into his wristcomm, and she stays fairly near him and Cody, maintains a defensive position - all the jockeying to avoid Maul and Savage has left her drained, and right now deflecting blaster bolts is about all she can do. She’s going to have to rest once they get back to the  _ Resolute _ or start risking overextension. Which is  _ not fun _ and will make Kix yell at her - and that’s even  _ less _ fun.

The first six transports fill up fast and more come down, and Ahsoka waits until all of Rex’s brothers have gotten on before she follows Anakin and Obi-Wan over to the last transport. Her small squad is still here too, and as they come up behind her she hears Jesse’s voice over the roar of engines and blasterfire: “What the kriffing  _ hells, vod’ika?” _

It’s rare for them to call her  _ little sister _ outside of leisure time in the barracks - that’s why she turns so fast, with the end result that she smacks her face on his command pauldron. “Jesse, the  _ kriff,” _ she says, glaring and rubbing her nose. “Ow!”

“Not my fault,” he says. “I can’t believe you just  _ ran off _ like that. And got yourself kidnapped!”

She hops into the transport, well aware of Anakin smirking at her, and raises an eyebrow. “You of all people should’ve expected the running off part, and honestly, the kidnapping is getting to be a habit.”

“I don’t approve,” Anakin interjects.

“Shut up, Skyguy.”

“I don’t approve either, sir,” Jesse says. “If you’d let Fives go with you to watch your six-”

“That would’ve defeated the  _ point _ of me causing a diversion.” She glares a bit harder. “Shut up, Jesse.”

_ “Also,” _ her Captain says, “what the hells is up with calling me an  _ animal _ now?”

The transport engines roar harder, the ship vibrating, and then there’s a dark shape that streaks into the ship - Anakin has his saber on before the shape forms into her  _ cat, _ sitting smugly at her feet. “My cat!” she says, delighted, bends down to scoop the tooka up, shifting him to a precarious perch on one arm so she can grab the overhead straps with the other. “This is what’s up with calling you an animal. Also, you are one.”

“I am  _ not! _ Kriff you, you little  _ besom,” _ he mutters.

She grins.  _ “Anyway,” _ she says, with emphasis, “Skyguy, Obi-Wan, and Jesse, this is Rex. Rex, this is… everyone.” She gestures vaguely with one hand, immediately grabs back onto the straps again.

Rex doesn’t look amused at  _ all, _ is standing in one corner by Cody, arms crossed, glowering. She gives him a  _ look. _ He was  _ just _ starting to be less grumpy, too… 

He nods, shortly, says nothing.

Anakin huffs. “I don’t like him,” he says.

She glares. “Anakin! Be  _ nice, _ what the kriff?”

“He  _ kidnapped you, _ Snips! You could’ve gotten hurt!”

Ahsoka rolls her eyes. “Yeah, whatever, he was trying to protect his brothers. And I  _ wasn’t _ hurt, so it’s fine.”

“Other than Maul kicking you into a  _ wall,” _ Fives says.

She grits her teeth, sighs. “Other than that,” she concedes.

Obi-Wan’s eyes flash. “You said Maul escaped?” he asks, every word bitten off, like he’s trying to stifle some intense emotion - anger, probably.  

“Yeah,” she says, nodding. “Out a back exit, I guess. He had the place all wired up beforehand.”

“Well, if Grievous didn’t notice Republic warships in Separatist space already, a droid foundry blowing up will  _ probably _ have alerted him,” Anakin sighs, running his free hand through his hair. “We’re probably going to have trouble.”

“Fabulous.” Ahsoka sighs, herself, walks carefully (instinctively balancing in the swaying ship) to the back of the ship, by Rex and Cody, so she can slump against the wall and close her eyes for a minute. She’s  _ tired. _ “Sounds great. You got our fighters ready?”

“Obviously. You good, Snips?”

“Yeah,” she says, opens her eyes again, shoots him a grin. “Just tired. But I’m not letting you get ahead of me.”

“Oh,  _ please,” _ Anakin says, rolls his eyes. “I’ve definitely shot down more vulture droids than you, Snips.”

“Oh,  _ please,” _ she echoes. “Don’t give me that  _ banthashit, _ Skyguy, I kicked your ass last time.”

“We agreed not to count last time!”

_ “We _ did not.  _ You _ might have, but I never agreed to any such insult to my  _ skills,” _ she says, definitively.

Obi-Wan snorts.

~~~

Now that they’re not all in imminent danger anymore, Rex is reminded that he doesn’t trust these  _ jetiise  _ with his  _ vode. _ Sure, it’s good right  _ now, _ that they got them all out, and he’s with  _ Cody,  _ and everyone’s feeling all  _ charitable,  _ but he doesn’t trust any of it. Thinks as soon as everyone really gets focused, when it comes down to it, he’s gonna have more to worry about than a little bit of  _ jetii  _ bantering.

Tano is in a pretty good mood, now, although she’s  _ tired. _ He thinks she’s assuming everything’s going to be fine now, and it will be, for her.

Well, at any rate, Rex knows Cody won’t let anything happen to his  _ vode, _ and honestly, Tano probably won’t either. He just  _ doesn’t like this. _

Not much else is said until the transports are all docking in a massive Republic cruiser (and  _ gods, _ Rex never wanted to be back here), except Cody quietly tells him that the two of them need to have a  _ serious discussion _ as soon as they’re clear of Separatist space.

Rex agrees, of course. That’s the  _ least  _ he owes his  _ ori’vod, _ for not being there for him, for never coming back or calling or giving him any kind of sign he was okay.

Everyone jumps out of the transport, and he automatically follows Cody, looks around to see all his  _ vode _ stepping out into the hangar, too, looking wary or threatening or, in the case of a few, downright panicked. Hells.

Tano comes over to him, quietly asks, “Are you okay?”

He shrugs. “Fine,” he answers. “Do you all have space for my  _ vode?”  _ Space that  _ isn’t  _ the brig, he wants to add, but thinks he better not.

“Anakin said he’d move people around so there’s enough bunks in the barracks,” she says, nodding. She hesitates, a second, then puts her hand on his upper arm. “I promise nothing will happen to them, Rex. You have my word.”

Rex believes her. So he nods, tersely, forces a small smile. “Fine enough, Tano. Thanks.”

“You’re welcome,” she says, smiling back. “I’ll go with you to settle them in if you want.”

Rex starts to nod, and agree, but there’s a ping from a commlink and then someone with a stuffy, irritated Core-world accent says,  _ “General Skywalker, we’re picking up Separatist ships coming out of hyperspace.” _

Because Rex can’t just get a  _ fekking break  _ anymore. Three years was apparently far too long for the galaxy to leave him in peace and it’s making up for that now.

In under a minute standard, the hangar around them has burst into flurried, well-organized activity, Tano and Skywalker both inexplicably running off towards the fighters. Cody starts following Kenobi, presumably out of the hangar, and Rex stays where he is long enough to order Akaan and Jet to make sure all the  _ vode  _ get settled and that no one does anything stupid (“especially you, Jet”). Then he runs after Cody, because he’ll be  _ damned _ if he’s gonna sit quietly in the shipboard barracks somewhere when the fate of  _ his brothers  _ is involved in this battle.

And alright, maybe he’s not feeling very eager to sacrifice what little time he’s gonna have back with Cody. Akaan is perfectly capable of keeping an eye on his  _ vode. _

Nobody really says anything to him, which he’s fine with, as he follows Cody and Kenobi at a brisk pace all the way to the bridge of the cruiser, where a dark-haired, mustachioed Human with a worried scowl on his face turns to look at them. “Nothing about this mission was advisable,” he says, disapprovingly.

“Never mind, Admiral,” Kenobi says, smoothly, waving his hand and sighing. “I’m sure you’re used to that by now.”

“Unfortunately,” the apparent Admiral mutters.

Cody takes up a position in perfect parade rest before a holotable, examining blinking red dots indicating Separatist ships. He glances at Rex, mouth twisting briefly in concern, as Rex strides over and crosses his arms, planting his feet wide and stubborn on the durasteel floor.

“What were Tano and Skywalker doing?” he finds himself asking.

“Piloting fighters,” Cody answers, and Rex blinks.

Of-kriffing- _ course _ they are.

Kenobi adjusts the settings on the holotable, and now Rex can hear the pilots’ comm chatter as their fighters roar out of the hangar. He notes that Kenobi looks fekking  _ terrible _ \- upon remembering that this is because both Kenobi and Cody are sick, he shoots Cody a worried look.

Cody is good at hiding it, but it seems that Rex still knows his  _ ori'vod  _ too well, and he doesn't look very good.

Although Rex can see and hear the battle going on, by way of the holotable, the comm chatter, and the viewscreen, most of the conversation on helmet comms between the pilots and the  _ jetiise  _ is incongruously cheerful. Everyone’s arguing over how many vulture droids they can shoot down, most especially Tano and Skywalker - they apparently keep a running tally. The admiral is calling out orders, because the fighters are just trying to clear space for them to be able to jump to hyperspace.

It’s a comparatively short, simple fight - Rex learns that Tano and Skywalker both are excellent pilots, most especially Skywalker. Rex acknowledges, privately, that there were points in the fighting where it was most likely Skywalker who kept things from going to shit; the  _ jetii  _ is decidedly crazy, but a decent strategist.

Tano isn’t bad herself. And her insults and banter over comms makes him smile.

And he hates all of it, so that the pit of his stomach is hollow and nauseous, so that his nerves are on a trigger's edge, seconds from snapping, so that he has to curl his hands into fists and press his knuckles flat against the edge of the holotable. He knows Cody is watching him, thinks his  _ ori'vod  _ is concerned about him. That doesn't help.

Finally Skywalker says over comms to  _ be ready to jump to lightspeed, we're coming back around, _ and the admiral relays the orders to the technicians on the bridge. Only two of the 501st fighters are down. It's fine.

Rex grits his teeth and turns his back on the holotable so he can look out the viewscreen, crosses his arms and sighs.

_ “Ori'vod,  _ are you okay?” Cody asks, quietly.

Rex nods. “Fine.”

Cody makes a disbelieving noise in the back of his throat but says nothing else. Rex thinks he must have ruined everything with Cody, but he still finds himself wanting to sit down with him and tell him  _ everything _ like he did when they were cadets. But he can’t, and he’s not going to be here long anyway. That’s just how it is.

The admiral gives the order to make the jump to hyperspace, and Rex lets out a bit of a breath and crosses his arms. He’s going to have to talk to the  _ jetiise, _ and he doesn’t particularly expect it to go well. Whatever Tano says.

~~~

Once they’ve got the fighters shut down, Ahsoka follows Anakin from the hangar, grinning to herself - the battle had gone  _ well, _ really, and there’s still adrenaline flowing fast and bright through her veins, and even though she’s  _ exhausted _ she’s still light on her feet as she and her Master head for the turbolift that’ll take them up to the bridge. 

“I definitely won that time,” she declares, grinning.

Anakin raises an eyebrow. “Hate to disappoint, Snips, but there’s  _ no way. _ I definitely shot down eight more vulture droids than you did.”

She follows him into the turbolift, presses the button for the bridge and settles in to wait as the doors close. “That’s  _ banthashit, _ Skyguy, and you know it. I clearly beat you this time.”

He just rolls his eyes. “Definitely not. Come on, let’s make sure Obi-Wan actually gets back in bed.”

“Excuse me,” Ahsoka says as the lift doors open at the bridge, “you can’t just change the subject like that. I  _ beat you.” _

Anakin walks over towards the holotable, where Obi-Wan, Cody, Admiral Yularen, and Rex are all standing. She hadn’t expected Rex to be up on the bridge, but then again - it probably shouldn’t be a surprise. The fate of his brothers hung in the balance while they were out there shooting droids. “I just did change the subject,” he says. “Obi-Wan, you need to be back in the medbay.”

_ “Anakin,” _ Obi-Wan says with a sigh, rolling his eyes. “I’m alright.”

“You don’t look very alright,” Ahsoka says, giving him a once-over. “Honestly, you look kind of dead.”

“See, General?” Cody says, not-quite sharply. “I told you to stay in bed.”

“And  _ I _ said that if you’re not staying in bed, neither am I,” Obi-Wan says, churlishly.

“Wow, Master, I hadn’t realized you were such a child.” Anakin is  _ smirking. _

_ “Anakin!” _

“I didn’t need to be in bed,” Cody growls, crossing his arms. “I’m fine.  _ You _ aren’t.”

“And Kix yelled at both of you,” Anakin says, “and so did Scratch, before he passed out.”

“What’d you even get into?” Ahsoka asks, looking between Obi-Wan and Cody (who, despite his words, is also pale and tired-looking).

Obi-Wan sighs, leans against the holotable a bit. “There was some strain of respiratory illness that none of us had been exposed to. Combined with the mud, the cold, and the near-constant storms, it’s hardly a surprise we all came down with it.”

Rex, Ahsoka notices, is  _ glaring _ at Cody. She wonders why.

“Well, I don’t want whatever it is you’ve got,” she decides, “so you should really go back to the medbay and let Kix fuss. He’ll appreciate it.”

“Kix fusses too much,” Cody mutters.

Ahsoka rolls her eyes, goes to stand over by Rex (which makes Anakin give her a  _ look), _ leans on the holotable, because she  _ is _ tired. Thankfully they’re finally in hyperspace, there’s not much else that can attack them from here - they’ll all have time to rest.

“So what happens now?” Rex asks, abruptly, fierce and a bit defensive. “I have a lot of men to get somewhere safe.”

Obi-Wan nods. “I intend to do some research on less-inhabited Republic worlds that are… out of the way of the war - perhaps I can find one that will be to you and your men’s liking.”

“Until then,” Anakin continues, “I thought we’d head back to Coruscant-”

Ahsoka cuts him off, quickly. “Actually,” she says, “we should find somewhere in safe space to wait until we figure this out. It’d be safer.” She  _ knows _ Rex won’t want to go to Coruscant, and neither will most of his men, for that matter.

Rex nods at her, a little, and she smiles at him. “I’d rather you all  _ didn’t _ know where we were going,” he says, still defensive, but there’s a bit of nerves in his voice. She wishes she could soothe that nervousness away.

“So Obi-Wan gives you a list and we find a way to get you a couple ships,” Ahsoka says, casually, which makes Anakin frown. “It’s partially my fault your ships got blown up in the first place, so we should replace them.”

“How exactly are we going to just  _ get a couple ships?” _ Anakin asks, and Ahsoka shrugs.

“Use Jedi credits and call it relief? Obi-Wan’s on the Council, I’m sure we can come up with something.” She’s going to do whatever she needs to to help Rex and his brothers out - they deserve that much, at  _ least, _ after all the wrongs the Jedi have done to them. She pauses, then adds, carefully, “Also, Master - Rex has some troopers from Krell’s old battalion with him and they’re scared of Jedi, so you should be careful coming in and out of the barracks while they’re here.” She’s thinking mainly of Naas and Je’kai, but she knows there are several others who looked  _ terrified _ when they got off the transports.

Anakin nods, slowly. “Fair enough.” He looks at Rex, thoughtfully, asks, “Anything else I should know?”

Rex grits his teeth. “Not that I’m aware of.”

“Right. Well, I better get this idiot back to the medbay,” and Anakin jerks a thumb at Obi-Wan. “Snips, if he does anything I wouldn’t like, punch him for me.”

_ “Anakin,” _ Ahsoka says, glaring.

Her Master just smirks and grabs Obi-Wan’s arm, tugs the older Jedi away from the holotable.

Obi-Wan’s swearing and arguing can be heard even after they’ve gone into the turbolift.

Ahsoka looks at Yularen, who is studiously avoiding listening to any conversation and is instead talking with one of the techs near the viewscreen, and then over at Cody and Rex. “Well,” she says, “I guess we should go to the barracks and check on everyone.”

“Only once this one goes to the medbay,” Rex growls, giving Cody a  _ look. _

She bites the inside of her cheek to try and stifle a smirk.

“Rex,” Cody says with a long sigh, “I’m  _ fine. _ And-” He stops, shifts to Mando’a and says something she can’t make out, shrugging. “I’m mostly healed, anyway, just need rest.”

Rex sighs, rubbing his forehead. “You look like shit and you’re  _ sick. _ But fine.”

Apparently, whatever Cody said in Mando’a was enough.

And really, despite the fact that Cody  _ definitely does _ need to go back to the medbay, Ahsoka’s glad they aren’t walking all the way over there before going to the barracks. She’s  _ tired, _ now that the battle-ready adrenaline is wearing off, and today has been  _ hard, _ and the night before was long. So she’ll be glad to get some rest.

After she makes sure everyone’s alright, first.

~~~

Although Rex doesn’t feel good about not knowing what the two  _ jetiise  _ generals are doing, when they control what happens to him and his men, going to the barracks to check on his men feels like the best thing he can do, right now. And Tano promised they’d be alright. He doesn’t think she’s the type to make careless promises.

Frankly, walking with her and Cody is, he thinks, the safest he can feel here. Cody, at least, is a good  _ ori’vod, _ somehow still wants to be around Rex, so Rex doesn’t believe he would let anything happen to Rex, and Tano… Tano is looking out for him and his  _ vode. _ So these two people are as safe as it gets, for him, right now.

“Thanks for all this, Tano,” Rex says, quietly. He’s sure most of this generosity is her doing, if it’s not a big trick on the part of her two Masters. Cody gives him a slightly surprised look, although it’s quickly gone; his  _ ori’vod  _ seems to be trying to figure him out.

Probably since Rex went and fekking kidnapped a  _ jetii  _ and hasn’t exactly been  _ polite  _ this whole time. He’d told Cody about how confused and frightened he felt, but he’d never expected Cody to understand the twisted mess of  _ anger,  _ and he doesn’t expect him to now, either.

“Of course, Rex,” Tano says, quietly, like it’s  _ simple. _ She’s something else, this one.

He doesn’t feel  _ really _ okay about all this until they get to the barracks and he can see all his  _ vode,  _ who, for all that they look anxious and there’s less of them than there should be, are here and installed on bunks and seem alright.

The reaction to the three of them walking into the barracks (more the reaction to  _ Tano _ walking in) is a lot of loud, boisterous greetings and what feels like half the barracks getting to their feet to hurry over to them. Tano’s squad, the trooper from the transports, who has, it turns out, a massive Republic symbol tattooed on his face (top marks for patriotism,  _ vod), _ and some dozen others that are all scolding Tano about  _ what the kriff, vod’ika, this is happening way too often. _ Rex shouldn’t be, anymore, but he’s surprised by them calling her  _ little sister,  _ although when he thinks about it he decides it makes sense.

If she always acts the way she’d been around him, then he gets why they would include her in their  _ vode _ like this. It’s just- Well, what he thinks about it has little bearing on what these  _ vode _ want to do.

As if to prove his point, all the surrounding  _ vode  _ seem to refocus and notice  _ him, _ who, in his armor painted an unfamiliar blue, flanked by both Cody and Tano, is fairly conspicuous in his not-belonging. Rex shouldn’t find it funny when all their eyes and expressions go very hard all at once, but he can’t help a bit of a smile because in some ways, every brother he’s ever met is a bit predictable about these things. Himself included. You protect your  _ vode, _ and Rex is the person responsible for (apparently) their  _ vod’ika _ going missing. He’d be pissed off, too.

Tano just sort of smiles, and says mildly, “I think Fives yelled at him enough for all of you.”

Fives himself wrinkles his nose in annoyance, like he thinks that’s debatable - Rex is sure Fives would have liked to yell  _ much more. _

“All due respect, Commander,” his very patriotic  _ vod  _ says, “but he almost definitely didn’t, if you were around.”

Rex chuckles and hooks his thumbs on his belt. “You’re right about that,” he says, evidently to all his brothers’ infinite irritation. “Not for lack of trying.”

Fives glares at him. This is one little brother that’s never going to like him. That’s fine with Rex. When he and his brothers leave, these  _ vode  _ can talk as much shit about them as they want; he doesn’t have a problem with it. Echo might, if he stays, or he might not - either way, not Rex’s concern.

“He’s also the one responsible for saving Echo,” Tano points out, and the  _ vod  _ in question smiles slightly, “so you could show a little respect.”

“Yeah, or we could not do that,” someone mutters, and Rex chuckles again, starts walking forward to get through the  _ vode  _ to his own brothers. He doesn’t think they’re happy about it, but they let him through - possibly only because Cody and Tano are still walking with him. Cody looks vaguely amused.

“You’re a little shit,” he says to Rex, dryly, and Rex shrugs.

“Whatever, Codes.”

Cody snorts, then makes a small, choked-off coughing noise, and Rex looks over so he can  _ glare  _ at him. He should’ve insisted on getting his lying  _ ori’vod _ to the medbay, but, well, Cody had said he wanted to stick around while Rex was still here, so…

Akaan and Jet and Terra and Naas and most of Rex’s other, older brothers come over to him when he gets over by the little area of bunks that’s apparently been set aside for them; Akaan salutes loosely at Cody, nods to Tano, and gives Rex a look like  _ what gives. _ “What’s the plan,  _ vod?” _ he asks. “Sniper and their,” gesturing out at the rest of the 501st, collectively, “medic took our wounded to the medbay a bit ago.”

“We’re gonna figure something out,” Rex says, tiredly. “We’re not going back to Coruscant with them, and they said something about getting us a ship.”

Jet curls his lip and mutters something in Mando’a that even Rex can’t make out, then turns and strides away to lean against a bunk and pick at the faded paint on his armor. Terra sighs, signs  _ excuse me, _ and hurries over to Jet.

Rex really wishes he hadn’t had to bring his men here; he doesn’t like how anxious it’s making them, but then there wasn’t anything he could do about it.

“Well, that’d be pretty damn decent of them,” Akaan says, sounding skeptical, but he shrugs. “Okay.” He glances at Cody again, then gives Rex the  _ smuggest fekking look. _ Yes, thanks,  _ vod,  _ he’s aware that Akaan was  _ slightly  _ right.  _ Slightly. _

~~~

As Ahsoka watches Rex talk to his anxious brothers, she can no longer push the exhaustion aside, as much as she wants to; and she knows they’ve lost more brothers today. They’ll want to say their names. And maybe they like her more now, but as Rex had so succinctly pointed out a few days ago, they don’t really  _ trust _ her - not that she blames them - so she knows they won’t want her around to say their names. They’ll want the privacy. And really, it’s the least she can give them.

So she nudges Cody, as Akaan keeps talking with Rex, says, in an undertone, “I’m going to go crash for a bit,” waits for his nod to quietly slip out of the group of clones.

There’s empty bunks a row over, where no one’s put stuff yet, and she drops down onto one of those, yawning. Jumping all over a droid foundry is  _ exhausting, _ she doesn’t think it’s an experience she cares to repeat. Especially not the two murderous Sith Lords part. She’s barely laid down under the thin blanket (stupid, it’s scratchy and not very nice, she should’ve stopped in her room to get  _ hers) _ when there’s a soft meow and Shadow jumps up onto the bunk next to her.

“Oh, there you are,” she says, smiling, and she scratches his ears, tucks an arm under the pillow and sighs. A short nap will help, will maybe make it so she can figure out a better way to help Rex and his men. Shadow curls up next to her and she sighs, closes her eyes.

It feels like she blinks and she’s waking up again, only the changed positions of Rex’s brothers telling her that any time has passed at all - Rex is sitting on a bunk with Cody, talking, and the rest of his brothers are all huddled close and murmuring to each other in Mando’a. She sits up slowly, rubbing at her eyes - it doesn’t feel like more than a couple hours have passed, at least.

She gets up, leaves Shadow curled up on the bunk, stretches and yawns and heads over to Rex and Cody, idly wondering what Anakin and Obi-Wan are up to - she’ll have to check. Cody looks somehow even  _ worse _ than he did earlier. He needs to be asleep, she thinks.

“Hey,” she says, to Rex, idly traces her fingers over one of her gauntlets. “Is everyone okay?”

Rex looks over at her, smiling just a little. “Yeah, we’re fine, Tano.”

She returns the smile, hesitates before dropping down to sit next to him, asks, hesitantly, “Is Naas… okay?”

“Sort of,” he says, grimacing, which is… not the best answer. “He’s not really the one I’m most worried about - although I don’t want him around your  _ jetiise _ friends.”

Makes sense. She nods. “Probably a good idea. If you don’t mind me asking…” She pauses, unsure. “Who  _ are _ you most worried about?”

Rex shrugs. “Some of Naas’  _ vode. _ And Je’kai. And your old friend Terra,” and he points, tiredly.

Ahsoka grimaces, a bit. “I wasn’t expecting Terra to be one of the anxious ones,” she admits. “He just always seems  _ angry.” _ The others, though… Je’kai, especially, she can see not far away, sitting on a bunk, back ramrod-straight, posture perfect, hands on his knees. He’s still wearing his armor and his face is completely blank.

“He  _ is _ angry. He’s just- battles aren’t good, for him.”

She nods her understanding. “Jesse has pretty bad flashbacks sometimes,” she says, slowly. “Kix helps him, though. Speaking of Kix…” She winces a bit, says, “He hasn’t been down here that you’ve seen, right? He’s our senior medic, and if he finds out I didn’t come straight to him when I got back he’ll lecture me for  _ ages.” _

Rex rolls his eyes, says, “I wouldn’t know him if I had seen him.”

“He’s got a medic insignia on his armor, head tattoo,” and she shrugs. “But he probably hasn’t been here or you would’ve known, he would’ve yelled at me. I’m apparently his second-biggest headache.”

“Can’t see why,” he says wryly, his eyes warm and amused. Cody chuckles, on his other side.

“You,” Ahsoka says, abandoning Rex for a moment to glare at Cody, “should be in bed. Or he’ll yell at all  _ three _ of us. And Kix is scary when he yells, you know that.”

_ “Commander,” _ Cody sighs. “I’m fine.”

“You look like you’re about to fall over,” she corrects. “I won’t tell Kix you’re here when you shouldn’t be, if you’ll at  _ least _ lay down like a sensible sentient being.”

“You really oughta,  _ ori’vod,” _ Rex says, firmly.

Cody  _ sighs, _ runs a hand over his face. “Fine, for a little while,” he says, sets a hand on the mattress and pushes himself to his feet - Ahsoka nearly jumps up to help, because he’s swaying a bit, has to catch himself on the bunk. She  _ watches _ him grit his teeth, force his spine straight, and walk over to sit down on another empty bunk, tugging off what’s left of his armor and stacking it neatly by the bunk, and then he lays down, pulls the blanket over himself, and closes his eyes.

She turns to Rex, says, a thread of concern in her voice, “He’s a dumbass, he should be in the medbay.”

“I am well aware,” Rex says, glaring at Cody’s already-motionless form. He doesn’t sound very happy.

“Why’d you let him come to the barracks?” she asks, curiously. If he’s this annoyed, he should’ve just made Cody go to the medbay before they got all the way down here.

“He asked,” he says with a shrug.

She decides not to push. “You missed him,” she says instead, observing, quiet. “He missed you too, I could tell, I’ve- never seen him that emotional before.  _ Ever. _ Even after… after we lost Waxer on Umbara, he still never cried where I at least could see him.” She shrugs a bit herself.

He looks down, swallowing. “Yeah, I guess it’s- been a while.”

She hesitates, then carefully puts a hand on his shoulder, says, “You should get his comm frequency before you go,” she suggests. “I’m sure he’d like to stay in touch.” She thinks  _ she _ would like to stay in touch, but she’s- not sure Rex does. He tolerates her, maybe even likes her some, and he- may have saved her life, but does he  _ really _ want to comm a Jedi? She’s not sure. Still, a part of her wants to offer. She swallows that down, for now, but-

Maybe.

~~~

Rex sighs and folds his hands together, resting his elbows on his knees. “I will if he wants me to have it,” he says, lightly, glances over at Cody again. He thinks his  _ ori’vod  _ is still mad at him, but he can’t figure out why he’s not  _ more  _ pissed off. Cody would be annoyed, though, if he knew Rex thought that.

“He was so happy to see you he started  _ crying,”  _ Ahsoka points out, rolling her eyes, and Rex shifts awkwardly. “Of course he’ll want you to have it, dumbass.”

Rex huffs an almost-laugh and shrugs. “Shut  _ up,  _ Tano. It’s not a guarantee since I didn’t fekking  _ talk to him  _ for three years.”

She smiles a little. “I didn’t talk to Anakin for three days once and he didn’t care,” she says, and Rex rolls his eyes. “But really, Rex, if he wasn’t happy with you he’d be in the medbay ignoring you, not fighting off sickness so he can talk to you.” She tightens her hand briefly on his shoulder, and he tries to pretend he doesn’t feel vulnerable about this, just nods.

“Would you believe it, you have a point,” he says, dryly.

Ahsoka smirks, brightly, and says, “I have two,” tapping her montrals.

“Dumbass,” Rex mutters, snorting and looking down with a shake of his head.

“Who, me?”

“Obviously.” He can't help a crooked smile of amusement.

“Whatever,” Ahsoka laughs, going comfortably quiet. Rex absently turns his attention to his  _ vode,  _ checks on Je’kai (who, despite still looking tense as hells, now looks tense as hells with Naas’ bird on his shoulder and Naas talking to him very furtively) and Jitter (who’s huddled up with a  _ vod _ named Kree) and Jet and Terra and a few of his more… reckless  _ vode  _ are, concerningly, deep in animated conversation. Rex is going to have to keep an eye on them.

“Why’d you save my life?”

Ahsoka’s question catches Rex off-guard, and he quickly looks back at her, confused as much by his inability to come up with an answer as by the fact that she asked at all. He could say it’s because he owed her, but he hadn’t thought about that at all, and in truth he hadn’t thought about it at all except for after, when he didn’t know what to think.

Frankly, it hadn’t really been a premeditated decision, he just did it. It’s not really complicated.

“Because if I hadn’t, you would be dead,” he says, flatly, raising an eyebrow. “You got a problem with it?”

_ “Obviously  _ not, I like being alive.” She meets his eyes, adds quietly, “Thank you.”

Rex shrugs. “Well, you’re welcome, but it wasn’t a big deal.” He barely even got bruises out of the incident. Not that he doesn’t appreciate the thanks, but he feels strange about it.

Ahsoka shrugs. “It was to me,” she says.

“Fair enough.” Rex shifts a little, looks back over at Cody. “Look, Tano - I acted like I didn’t know Cody because I didn’t want to deal with the questions. Or explain that I- hadn’t talked to him in so long.” Cody has thought he was  _ dead,  _ and Rex had let him. Of-kriffing-course he wasn’t gonna explain that to a  _ jetii,  _ of all people. Never mind that  _ jetiise  _ don’t  _ understand ori’vode  _ \- or at least, shouldn’t. Ahsoka seems to. More or less.

“Oh,” she says, consideringly. “That makes sense. I shouldn’t have made the comment I did, anyway, it’s not my business.”

Rex shrugs. “It doesn’t matter,” he says, sighing, because it doesn’t change much. “It’s just- It wasn’t that I don’t care, or anything.” He doesn’t know what he’s trying to prove. Maybe he’s just seeing how convincing this sounds - not that it’s a lie - for when he talks to Cody. Maybe he kind of wants Ahsoka to know he wasn’t just taking her for a ride and laughing at her about it.

“I think I’m starting to learn that about you,” she says, with a slight smile.

“How clever of you,” he answers, with a quiet laugh, although he’s not entirely sure how to take the comment. “Quite the quick study.”

She shoves his shoulder, wrinkling her nose and giggling a little. “Shut up,” she says.

Rex leans back on the heels of his hands and sighs, amused, doesn’t bother arguing.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Mando'a Translations:
> 
> Ni ceta: Please forgive me; literally "I kneel"; very rare apology


	12. Chapter 12

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> in which Conversations are had, Plans are made, some Things are revealed, and some people could really use some therapy.

Ahsoka sits with Rex in a comfortable quiet for a few minutes, just enjoying the peace and warmth of finally being back home, with her men. Rex is alternating between watching Cody sleep and keeping an eye on some of his brothers, huddled up and talking in low voices. He’s so protective of them all - she wonders how long it’s been since he had someone so protective of  _ him. _

Maybe since the last time he saw Cody, she doesn’t know.

Which brings her to a question she’s been wondering about, a bit, since he told her the smallest bit about his backstory. “What was your life like before you deserted?” she asks, curiously, but quiet.

Rex gestures at the barracks around them, says, “Like this. Same as any clone Captain you could ask, I guess.” She’d take his words at face value if it wasn’t for the slight edge of bitterness to them.

Ahsoka frowns, a bit, tilts her head to one side, studying him. “You didn’t like your General,” she says, carefully. “All the clone Captains I’m familiar with  _ like _ their Generals.”

He smiles just a bit. “Well, mine was an Aurek-class bitch, so no. Not too fond of her.”

She nods, thoughtful. “Do you mind me asking what exactly she  _ did? _ Besides- not being there at the last battle.” She’s hesitant, tentative, not wanting to disturb the balance they seem to have finally reached, but- She wants to know. Wants to know what made him into the person he is today.

Rex shrugs. “She showed up when she got assigned and started in lecturing us like we were a bunch of dumb  _ di’kute _ and she wanted to fix us. She had a  _ moral problem _ with the fighting, apparently, but that just meant she didn’t lead most of our assaults. I guess I should be glad she bothered to cover our retreats.”

Ahsoka blinks. “A  _ moral problem _ with fighting? This is a  _ war, _ if you don’t think you can fight it appropriately, refuse the assignment.” She grumbles to herself. “What the hells could she possibly lecture you on?” That makes no  _ sense, _ if she has a  _ moral problem _ with fighting then she’s probably not very good at it, which means she shouldn’t have anything to lecture her men about in that area, at least.

“You know your Code, and what you  _ jetiise _ teach,” he says. “You name it, we heard it.” He rolls his eyes, like he’s picking up steam, says, “Attachments are impractical in war, so she told me we shouldn’t recite our names. Oh, and that my  _ vode _ cared too much about each other. She thought armor-painting was  _ trivializing  _ war. You know how  _ many _ damn times I had to hear your damn Code because something we did wasn’t matching up? It was fekking exhausting.”

Ahsoka… Ahsoka  _ stares. _

“But that- All those things, that’s your  _ culture,” _ she says, slowly. “She should’ve been protecting that, encouraging it, it’s not- As Jedi our role isn’t to be, well,  _ missionaries, _ we aren’t supposed to force our beliefs on the rest of the galaxy, we’re just- Besides, what she said is  _ wrong, _ all of it. I don’t…” She pauses. “I’m sorry.” The apology is probably- not very helpful, in the end, but she feels like she needs to say it anyway, because this- It’s so  _ wrong, _ all of it.

She should tell Obi-Wan about this, she thinks.

He sighs, nods, crossing his arms. “Yeah, well, she didn’t, and she isn’t the only one.” Then he stops, takes a deep breath,  _ visibly _ changing what he was about to say. “Anyway, it wasn’t like  _ this. _ Everyone was miserable when she was around, and we couldn’t speak Mando’a because it made her paranoid. She thought we were talking behind her back.” He smiles, just a little bit, more of a smirk. “Because we were.”

She snorts. “I don’t blame you, I would be too,” she says. “That sounds horrible, though. So after that battle, they were going to reassign you, and you and your brothers just decided you didn’t want to go through all that again? Since that was the only experience you had with Jedi, it makes sense that you’d leave.”

“Pretty much.” He goes quieter, says, “I was trying to- decide what to do and I talked to Cody. He said I should stay and give my new general a chance, but- It would’ve just been the same.”

She shrugs one shoulder. “Maybe not, depending on who you would’ve been assigned to. Did Cody know?”

“I think so. But I didn’t ask.”

She nods. “I’m curious,” she says, smiling a little, “so when he wakes up, I’m gonna.” She pauses, then, smiling more, she says, “So, Rex, you and Cody grew up together, right? You wouldn’t happen to have some…  _ stories _ about him as a cadet, would you? I have purely scientific reasons for asking, of course,” she adds, trying to stifle a laugh.

If she could get some of the more embarrassing stories… she’d have teasing material for  _ so long _ after this.

~~~

Rex is grateful for the change in subject - while he finds he appreciates Ahsoka asking him about the old general, and then not taking Galina’s side, there are too many emotions that go with that. Anger being the sharpest one, and he doesn’t really want to have another argument with Ahsoka about the  _ jetiise. _ Not right now. Things are- kind of nice, right now, and he doesn’t want to mess it up.

So he smiles, some, and winks at her. “Well, if it’s for science, then sure, Tano.” He suspects  _ science  _ means  _ embarrassing Cody,  _ and he can always get behind that reason for doing something. “What’d you have in mind?”

She grins at him, enthusiastic. “Oh, I dunno, I bet you can come up with some very interesting stories he might not be so keen to have me know about.”

“Hm,” Rex says, mock-thoughtful, glancing over at Cody. He’s not over-fond of any of the training memories, anymore, but the things he did with his  _ vode  _ are still good ones. “You mean like the time he pretended not to know Basic for two standard weeks?” Despite all of them having been taught Basic literally their entire lives. Jango had taught them Mando’a when they were all three or so, it was more  _ their language  _ than Basic, and when Cody got really fluent he decided it would just be more fun to speak it all the time.

Ahsoka’s smile grows, and she says, “Exactly like that,” then starts laughing, and adds, “What’d he do, just talk in Mando’a the whole time?”

“Yes,” Rex says, smiling. “I was his interpreter. The longnecks and the trainers were pissed at him, but he  _ says  _ that Jango thought it was great.” Rex believes it, though - Jango was something of an anarchist, at least when it came to the  _ vode’s  _ training. “He’d pretend to have no idea what they were telling him, so I’d  _ translate  _ it into Mando’a and then he’d do what they said.”

“How  _ old  _ were you?” she asks, still laughing, looking delighted by the whole thing.

“Four?” Rex nods. “We were four.”

Ahsoka stops laughing, shakes her head. “That is  _ adorable.” _

Rex leans back, mock-affronted, and raises an eyebrow. “Excuse you,” he huffs. “It was  _ genius. _ Up until the longnecks started taking it  _ too  _ seriously and thought they’d have to recondition him to make him stop.” That’s the problem, with cadet memories - most of the fun they had was not strictly  _ allowed, _ got them in massive trouble with everyone but Jango.

Ahsoka nods, completely serious, and says, “Well, that would certainly put a damper on things.”

“Yeah, it did.” Rex smiles, just a little. “Until I got my  _ vod  _ ‘35 to help me get some of the medical droids to only speak Mando’a in retaliation. They thought it was Jango that did it.” Jango hadn’t really said much to change their minds, and then he’d told Rex  _ good job. _ It was a good moment. Cody’d been jealous for a  _ month. _ Because Rex rubbed it in his face for a  _ month. _

Ahsoka giggles. “Did they ever find out who it really was?” She looks like a cadet that figured out how to get into the armory by themself.

“Hells no,” Rex huffs. “I don’t think I’d be here if they did. They were  _ pissed.” _

“Funnily enough, I can see why,” Ahsoka says, chuckling, wry. Then she leans forward, a bit more serious, all blue-bright eyes and curved smile. “So what other… misadventures did Cody get up to?”

Rex snorts. “Reprogramed all the simulation droids to attack only natural-borns, once. Believe it or not, the trainers were pissed about that too.” Rex had done  _ most  _ of the reprograming - they weren’t designated technicians, but they had some basic tech training and then ‘35 showed Rex some tricks (because good  _ vode  _ share slicing techniques and backdoors), so Cody had the genius and brought Rex in on the plan to pull it off. They  _ did  _ get caught for that one, got an earful each from the asshole head trainer (not Jango, Jango had been offworld at the time).

“Clever,” Ahsoka says, approvingly.

“Mm, yeah, but not subtle. They checked who’d used the computer systems and had us on sanitation duty for six weeks.” Rex blamed Cody. Since it was  _ his idea,  _ and the slight problem with having  _ identifying chips  _ in your  _ arm  _ is that you can’t do anything to hide where you’ve been.

The older technicians figured out how to slice into their own identichips so they could do more or less whatever they wanted.

Once they left Kamino, that didn’t matter anyway.

“That’s not so clever,” Ahsoka agrees, with a wince. She pauses, then says, thoughtfully, “You know, the Mando’a thing reminded me of stories Obi-Wan told me about Anakin as a kid at the Temple. The Jedi found him when he was nine and a slave and could only read Huttese, and when some of the teachers started really treating him like an idiot because of it, he reprogramed every droid in the Temple to only speak Huttese.”

Rex clenches his hands into fists, tight, and works to focus on the punchline of Ahsoka’s little story instead of the lead-up. “Not bad,” he says, a little more tense than he means to be. Shakes himself, deliberately, and breathes out. “Serves them right, I guess.”

“Sorry,” she says. She looks a little disappointed. “I shouldn’t have brought up the Jedi right now, should I?”

Rex rubs his forehead and smiles, wryly. “Little hard to avoid that, Tano, since  _ you’re _ a  _ jetii  _ and that’s sort of your life.” Which he doesn’t entirely know what to do with - he’s never wanted to know  _ this much _ about  _ jetiise. _ Call it education, he guesses.

She hesitates a little, looking at him, then offers, “We turned all the water in the fountains green once. Me and some of my friends in my clan.”

Rex smiles. “Alright, Tano. Respectable.”

“Also,” she says, conspiratorially, grinning and biting the inside of her cheek a little bit, “I stole all of Master Windu’s robes, once.” She stops, considers, then adds, “That’s not as impressive to you as it is to another Jedi.”

She’s cute. Rex chuckles, shrugs. “Consider me suitably impressed.”

~~~

“I snuck in through the ventilation shafts,” Ahsoka explains, although she’s not exactly sure why she’s detailing her master plan of infiltration to Rex. “I was… nine? Someone, I don’t even remember who now, said no one could sneak into a Council member’s rooms.”

“So you did,” he says, amused, smiling, and she chuckles.

“So I did. And I stole all his robes to prove it. No one ever dared me anything like that again. Master Windu was  _ furious, _ though,” she says. They’d found out who did it, because of  _ course _ they did, she was an Initiate and had bragged to the rest of the creche. She’d gotten a  _ very _ stern lecture from the entire Council, assigned meditation, and  _ so many _ extra chores. “They never did find his robes, though.” She’d buried them in the garden.

She’s pretty sure they’re probably still there.

“You rebel,” Rex says, and she giggles a bit at the expression on his face. “What’d you do with them?”

“Buried them, of course,” she says, grinning. “I’d watched all the holos. Child me figured if it’s a good way to hide a body, it’s a good way to hide clothes.”

Rex  _ laughs, _ and she can’t help laughing with him, because his laughter is warm and infectious. “Remind me not to cross you,” he says, crossing his arms, and then pauses. “Again.”

She snorts. “I would’ve thrown them in a river, but the only thing we’ve got in the gardens is a stream and a bunch of fountains, so…” She shrugs. “I wonder if they’re still there. Do you suppose he’ll want them back?” she adds, mischievous, smirking just a bit.

“His muddy, crusty old robes that you buried? I think they’d suit him marvellously,” he says, smiling, warm.

She laughs again, shakes her head. “I can just imagine the look on his face if I handed them back to him. Unfortunately, I really don’t want to get in trouble for the same prank twice, so…” She shrugs. “I was a very… difficult child.”

“I can’t imagine,” he says, flat, straight-faced, and she bites her lip to stifle a giggle.

“Anakin and I are pretty well-matched in that,” she says. Then leans forward, considering, as a new thought occurs to her. “Did those sim droids you reprogrammed, did they go after the Kaminoans? I’ve seen holos of them, and honestly the idea of them being chased by droids is  _ hilarious.” _

Rex shifts, leaning forward himself, grinning, and says conspiratorially, “Yes, they did. And I’ve never seen the longnecks run so fast and I don’t think anyone ever will again.”

“I would pay  _ so many _ credits to see that,” Ahsoka says, shaking her head, struggling to contain her laughter at the mental image of the tall, graceful, Kaminoans  _ running _ anywhere. Rex is still leaned a bit towards her, and he’s  _ grinning, _ and his smile is warm and bright and she notices, not for the first time but maybe the strongest, that his eyes are really  _ very _ gold, especially when they’re warm and laughing like right now. And  _ kriff, _ she needs to  _ focus, _ this is not- she’s- 

_ “Commander!” _

“Oh,  _ kriff,” _ Ahsoka mutters, sits back very fast and looks around as though she can melt into the bunk. “You know how I asked you if Kix had come in here yet?  _ That,” _ and she nods at the  _ very annoyed _ medic marching over towards her, “is Kix. And he’s pissed.”

“Ah, lucky you,” Rex says, leaning back himself, schooling his face into something resembling innocence.

Damn him.

“Commander,” Kix says, coming to a stop by her and  _ glaring _ down at her, “why didn’t you come by the medbay  _ three hours ago _ when we went into hyperspace?”

She gives him a smile, doesn’t think it really helps. “Hi, Kix, I missed you too,” she says. He just glares harder, and she grimaces. “Uh, I was busy?”

“Busy,” he says, flatly.

“And I’m  _ fine, _ I’m not injured - or, at least, Rex’s medic already took care of it. You should be yelling at Cody.”

“Oh, I will be,” Kix says, “but I’m not waking him up, he needs the sleep. You probably need rest too, knowing you-”

“Actually,” she interrupts, “I  _ did _ take a nap earlier. Out of necessity. Come  _ on, _ Kix, you aren’t going to drag me to the medbay, are you? I’ll let you check me over here if you really think you need to, but I promise I’m  _ fine.” _

Kix runs a hand over his tattoos, sighing. “You,” he pronounces, “are my second-biggest headache. Fine, but if I find anything concerning I’m taking you back to the medbay with me - willingly or no.”

She cringes a bit, says, “Alright, fine, deal.”

She  _ hates _ it when Kix gets like this. Honestly, can’t he just trust her to be a  _ mature _ and  _ responsible _ person and… Well, actually, he’s probably smart to do this most of the time. It’s just that right now she really  _ isn’t _ ignoring anything.

Mostly. Her ribs are still a bit sore, but they’ll be fine.

~~~

The cruiser ends up idling in Republic space between hyperlanes for about an hour, apparently so that the  _ jetiise  _ can figure out some options for Rex and his  _ vode. _ Cody has just woken up, at which point the 501st’s medic, Kix, had appeared out of thin air to give him some meds and a stern scolding.

Rex thinks his  _ vode  _ are doing a little better, at this point; everyone’s settled down since nothing has gone wrong so far and no one’s called the GAR and Rex himself is fairly comfortable with the situation.

Or at least, he is until he looks up from his datapad, in the middle of an inane conversation with Ahsoka, and sees Kenobi and Skywalker coming into the barracks. He shuts off his datapad, sets it down with his few other belongings, and pushes himself to his feet, folding his arms over his chest.

Ahsoka stands up, too, sets a light hand on his arm. “Hey, remember, I promised,” she says, in an undertone.

“I know,” he says, tersely. He doesn’t have to look to know that most of his  _ vode  _ have also gotten up and gone still, and there’s a shuffle of paws and wings and then Naas and both of his pets are there by Rex’s borrowed bunk.

“Is this okay?” Naas asks, anxiously, nudging Di’kut behind the bunk with one foot.

“Yeah, you’re fine,  _ vod’ika,” _ Rex answers. Cody comes over, too, and Rex would yell at him for actually getting  _ up _ except he’s too grateful that’s Cody’s here. He lifts his chin a little and moves over slightly so he’s a bit more in front of Naas, notes to himself as the two  _ jetiise  _ walk over that Kenobi doesn’t look good, but better than before, and seems to be evaluating Rex himself.

Skywalker, somewhat predictably, still looks annoyed.

“I see you’re all settled in alright,” Kenobi says, smoothly, despite the fact that his voice is hoarse.

Rex nods. “Fine enough,” he says. “You figured anything out?”

“There are a couple places you could potentially go, yes.” Kenobi looks around. “It will depend on what you’re thinking, but I am aware of a few Republic worlds that most likely wouldn’t object to your presence.”

Rex would  _ prefer  _ to find somewhere in neutral space, but he knows that comes with some difficulties of its own. He shifts a little, sighs through his nose. “So, what then?” he asks, sharply.

Kenobi lists a few, simply, with some explanation (Rex is going to have to ask how they intend to get his men there; he can’t have them knowing where they are), then says, with a slight smile, “I do, however, think the Kiros system would be your best bet.”

Beside Rex, Ahsoka looks a little surprised. Rex decides to ask her about that later. “Explain,” he says, to Kenobi, which he thinks annoys Skywalker.

“Kiros is joining the Republic, but they’ve been neutral for the majority of the war. They are quite aware of the value of peace and freedom - I believe you would find people there that were willing to work with you and your brothers.” Kenobi smiles. “Unless that’s not what you’re looking for. Their agreement with the Republic is being negotiated such that they have less Senatorial oversight, so I don’t think they will change many things upon becoming a Republic system.” Kenobi shrugs slightly, as if to say he’s not entirely sure about that, but it does sound like a decent idea.

But Rex is concerned by the way Kenobi is pushing it, worried that if he does elect to go there, the  _ jetiise  _ will know. “I was thinking someplace less… recommended,” he snaps.

_ “Vod,” _ Cody says, in Mando’a.  _ “If he says it’s a good idea, you should listen.” _

Rex turns to look at him, jaw tightening a little.  _ “I don’t want them to have our location. It sounds like a good idea, sure, but I- This mess  _ **_started_ ** _ because I can’t have people knowing where we are. Especially not jetiise.” _

Cody sighs, just a bit, and shakes his head.  _ “Rex, I trust these particular jetiise. I- trust Kenobi more than anybody else. You should at least believe me when I say they’re not gonna turn you all in or anything else.” _

Rex clenches his jaw, but- Ahsoka promised, too. And if Cody trusts Kenobi, then- Maybe.

_ “I’m trying, here,”  _ he says, sharper than he should, and sighs and looks back at Kenobi. “We can discuss that.”

“Excellent. Transportation for all of you might be a bit more difficult to manage, if you’d rather we not know where you’re going,” Kenobi cautions, and Rex shrugs.

“I’m aware.”

“Do you think it would make the colonists more comfortable?” Ahsoka asks. “If they knew there was someone there to protect them from invasion?”

“My  _ vode  _ aren’t a militia,” Rex points out, although if they did work out some kind of arrangement with the locals of the planet, that would be alright, probably. But not on terms the  _ jetiise  _ set.

“I would imagine so,” Kenobi says, mildly. “Although I can hardly speak for them. If Kiros were to be an option for you, Rex, there would have to be discussions with the local colonists.”

“The Kiros colonists are the ones the Zygerrians kidnapped,” Ahsoka says, to Rex, in explanation, and it takes him just a second to connect that with what she told him, before, on Viridian. He frowns.

“In that case, I’m not- entirely sure that sounds like a good idea,” he says, carefully. He highly doubts that a bunch of people who’ve just been slaves would want an encampment of deserting Republic soldiers anywhere near them. Kenobi’s assessment seems likely to be… overly optimistic.

“You know about Zygerria?” Skywalker says, looking immensely confused. Rex looks at Ahsoka, and Kenobi, and Cody, then shifts a little and shrugs.

“Yeah, I- Tano said those colonists had been slaves. I don’t think they’ll want  _ us  _ around.”

Kenobi looks as if he’s trying  _ not  _ to look surprised, says calmly, “Well, you could discuss that with them. I wouldn’t dismiss it out of hand.”

Rex nods. That’s reasonable enough. “We should,” he says, “do that. So I have the option.”

Everyone agrees, just in time for Kix to come over, with his arms crossed and a stern look on his face, to tell them that if they are going to  _ continue  _ with these discussions, the three  _ sick and injured di’kute  _ will need to  _ sit down. _

Naas, who has been holding Tra’ika and being very quiet, scoots over closer to Rex and says, softly, in Mando’a,  _ “He’s cool.” _

Rex huffs a quiet half-laugh and nods.  _ “‘Lek, he is.” _

_ “He’s like me,”  _ Naas adds, more quietly.  _ “He’s got the Force.” _

Kix twists to look at Naas so fast that Rex thinks he gives himself whiplash, and the other nearby  _ vode  _ go very still, too. Strangely, Kenobi also looks briefly  _ bewildered,  _ and Rex has a sudden awful idea that the  _ jetii  _ might have understood what Naas just said.

_“Vod’ika,”_ he says, lightly, but _stern,_ _“why don’t you go sit with Je’kai.”_

Naas looks around, swallows, and nods, clutching Tra’ika tighter against him (much to the patient bird’s evident displeasure). He hurries off, and Rex crosses his arms and clears his throat and says, “So. The colonists.”

~~~

Ahsoka has no idea what just happened, but judging from the way Kix’s hands are suddenly shaky and everyone else has gone very still, it was something  _ big. _ “Obi-Wan?” she asks, uncertain - whatever Rex and Naas were saying, he’ll have heard it. He’ll know.

Obi-Wan is watching Kix, very carefully, frowning just a bit. “I should have seen that before,” he murmurs, to himself, and then straightens up, focuses on Rex again. “I can provide you with a holocomm so you can contact Governor Roshti, the colonists’ leader - in the meantime, however, I need to speak with Anakin and Ahsoka, briefly.”

“I’ll catch up,” Ahsoka says, quickly, giving Obi-Wan and Anakin a meaningful look, and as soon as they (reluctantly) start walking away, she turns to Rex and says, “What’s going  _ on, _ what happened? What’s wrong?”

“Does Kenobi know any Mando’a?” he asks, instead, razor-sharp, sharper than she’s heard him since things started to smooth out between them.

She frowns, not understanding. “Yeah, he’s fluent in it, spent like a year on Mandalore when he was a padawan, apparently. He knows a lot of languages. Why?”

_ “Haar’chak,” _ he snaps, which instantly snaps her on the defensive,  _ “fekking hells.” _ He stops, glaring at Cody. “What the  _ kriff, _ Codes?” Cody doesn’t respond and Rex just looks back at her, says, “Naas decided to mention he was Force-sensitive just now, because your  _ medic _ there is too, apparently.”

“He  _ is?”  _ Ahsoka says, turning to look at Kix, who’s staring at the floor, one hand clenching in and out of a fist. “But that’s so  _ cool, _ I bet you’d be way better at Force-healing than Anakin or I, Kix, Obi-Wan would love to teach you.” And then she stops. Remembers Naas talking about being told the Jedi would call them traitors, Rex saying the Kaminoans killed them. “You know- Kix, you  _ know _ we would never let the Kaminoans hurt you. Right?”

“I know,” Kix says, slowly, although he sounds… unsure. “I just…” He stops. “I’m gonna go find Jesse.” He walks off before she can say anything else, and she turns to Rex again, fast.

“Look, Rex, it’ll be  _ fine, _ none of us would ever hurt Naas. If you can’t trust Obi-Wan, which- I understand - please trust me? I  _ promise, _ it’s okay.” She’s not even sure he’ll listen, but she has to try. “I promised you nothing would happen to them, remember, I gave you my  _ word.” _

He’s tense almost to the snapping point when he says, “I do trust you, and I know you promised. Just understand I  _ will not _ let  _ anything _ happen to him. I don’t even want them to  _ talk to him _ without my permission.”

She nods. “Of course, I’ll tell them. It’ll be okay, Rex, really. If- If I thought either of them would hurt Naas, I’d put myself between them and him in a heartbeat. I have to go talk to Anakin and Obi-Wan, but I’ll come back once we’re done. Will that… help?” She’s not sure, maybe he won’t want her around now that he’s so worried about Naas, but- He said he  _ trusts her, _ and so maybe that means…? She’s not sure.

Rex nods, looks down, swallows a bit. “Yeah, that- would be good.”

She smiles, encouraging, reaches out and takes both his hands, squeezes them as reassuringly as she can. “I’ll be back in a little bit, then. It’ll be okay.”

She drops his hands with another careful smile and hurries off, weaving through the crowd of brothers, her men, all looking confused and a bit worried - Fives stops her on her way out the door, says, “Sir, what’s going on?”

“Ask Kix,” she says, and then ducks out from underneath his hand and jogs through the door into the corridor.

Obi-Wan and Anakin will likely have gone to one of the meeting rooms to sit and talk, probably about this new information and what to do with it - not about Naas, but about  _ Kix. _ He’d seemed more overwhelmed than scared, she thinks, which is definitely good. 

She just hopes Anakin takes Rex’s not-quite-order well.

She finds Obi-Wan and Anakin already sitting at a table in the main briefing room they use, and she hurries over to sit down with them. “Rex is really anxious,” she says, and Obi-Wan and Anakin both frown. “He said he doesn’t want either of you going near Naas or talking to him without his - without Rex’s, I mean - permission.”

Obi-Wan nods, slowly. “I take it that means you already know what he and Naas were talking about?” He pauses. “Assuming Naas is the one Rex was talking to, with the Kiros bird.”

“He is, and I asked,” she says. “He- trusts me, so… and I promised him no one would hurt his brothers.”

Anakin grits his teeth and says, slowly, “Would someone  _ please _ tell me what’s going on?”

“Apparently,” Obi-Wan says, wryly, “Kix is Force-sensitive.”

“Clones can be sensitives?” Anakin looks  _ surprised, _ and interested. “How did we not know this?”

“Well,” Ahsoka says, quietly, “Rex told me that the Kaminoans tell all the cadets that the Jedi will call them traitors, and that they,  _ terminate _ any Force-sensitive clones they find.”

“They do  _ what?” _ Now Anakin just looks  _ furious. _ “That’s  _ banthashit.” _

“Indeed it is.” Obi-Wan sighs, rubs a hand over his beard. “When we return to Coruscant, I’ll have to bring the matter up to the Council - assuming Kix is alright with it, of course. Anakin, perhaps you should talk to him about what he wants to do?”

“But not right now,” Ahsoka is quick to add. “I think you two should stay out of the barracks for a bit, until everyone’s settled back down.”

“It’s my barracks,” Anakin says, churlishly.

“And right now it’s full of a bunch of skittish clones who’re expecting you to report them to the GAR,” she snaps.

_ “You’re _ going back in there.”

“They trust me!” Ahsoka pushes herself to her feet, glaring down at him. “Stop being  _ stupid _ and just  _ think, _ for a second, Master. They’re  _ scared _ of you, some of them. And Naas was an  _ Ustura, _ okay? So please, just-  _ listen _ to me. I know them better than you do. Not  _ great, _ but better.”

“Excuse me,” Obi-Wan says, almost sharp, “Naas was  _ what?” _

“I felt it, when I first saw him a bit. He’s better now, Rex fixed him somehow, but-” She pauses. “I’m not sure I should tell you this, but Naas was in Krell’s battalion.”

Obi-Wan pauses, expression unreadable. “Ah,” he says, simply.

“I’m pretty sure he’s completely stable,” she continues, “but we still need to be careful around him, okay? And he’s so- He’s  _ young.” _

Obi-Wan nods. “Understood,” he says with a tired sigh. “Anakin, I do believe it would be best if we listened to Ahsoka on this matter; she’s correct in saying that she knows these men much better than we do, and there are… layers here that we don’t understand.”

Anakin grits his teeth, clenches his mech hand, and says, “Fine.” He pauses, then growls, “But I don’t like it.”

“Of course you don’t,” Ahsoka mutters. “I promise it’ll be fine, Skyguy, okay? It’s only for a little longer.”

“Thankfully,” he says, under his breath,  _ annoyed. _

She pretends to not hear.

“I better go back,” she tells Obi-Wan, quietly. “I think it helps when I’m there.”

Obi-Wan nods. “I already commed Click and asked him to take Rex a holoprojector with the right frequency programmed in,” he says, and she nods.

“I’ll let you guys know how it goes. And… Anakin, I’ll tell Kix you want to talk to him.”

Anakin nods. “Thanks, Snips.” He just sounds  _ tired, _ now. And frustrated.

She sighs, then turns and makes for the door, and the barracks.

Something still just feels  _ off. _

~~~

When the  _ jetiise  _ are gone, Rex walks away from the 501st brothers to find Naas, who’s sitting on Je’kai’s bunk with his knees pulled up to his chest, face frozen in a nervous frown. Je’kai looks seconds away from either bolting or fighting, so Rex stops a bit away from them and signals at Cody (who’d followed him) to stop and stay back.

“Naas,” Rex says, very gently, “this is gonna be fine.”

_ “It’s not,”  _ Naas answers, in Mando’a, shakily.  _ “The one- Kenobi, he- I could tell he knew, do they- He knows now, doesn’t he?” _

Rex takes a few steps closer so he can squat down in front of Naas, noticing Di’kut under the bunk.  _ “Elek,”  _ he says, glances back at Cody.  _ “But my ori’vod here says he trusts Kenobi, and Tano promised that nothing is going to happen to anybody here.” _

Naas hugs his knees tighter and bites his lip.  _ “I don’t like it, I- Something’s going to happen to the medic and it’ll be my fault.” _

Rex sighs, and gets up, and closes the rest of the distance between him and Naas so he can hug his  _ vod’ika. _ He glances at Je’kai, then carefully sits down for a minute between the two of them and leans forward on his knees, ignoring Cody for the time being.  _ “Look, vod’ike,”  _ he says, sighing.  _ “I don’t like the jetii generals. And I don’t trust them. But I think- Well. Tano said they wouldn’t do anything to any of you, or Kix. Like I said, she promised. I think I believe her.” _

Naas nods, quickly.  _ “Well, if she promised, then- then it’s okay.”  _ He hesitates, looks between Rex and Je’kai.  _ “Right?” _

Rex hopes so. Believes so.  _ “Right.” _

Je’kai doesn’t really look like he agrees, but there isn’t much Rex can do about that. He just sets a hand on Je’kai’s shoulder, briefly, and smiles a little.  _ “Whatever the jetiise say,”  _ he says,  _ “I promise  _ **_I’m_ ** _ not going to let anyone near you. Okay?” _

Je’kai looks at him, very appraisingly, hesitant, and then nods and shifts towards him some.  _ “Okay,” _ he says, raspy.

Rex stays with them for a little bit longer, then gets up to go back to his bunk, trying not to be anxious, retelling himself everything he just told Je’kai and Naas.

“Rex,” and he turns, looks at Cody, whose expression is (for once) nearly unreadable. “We’re gonna talk.”

Rex nods, swallowing a bit, and follows Cody over to a few rows of empty bunks, where there’s no  _ vode,  _ and they both sit down on one of them, Cody settling his forearms on his knees and briefly running both hands through his hair. Rex leans back on his hands and tells himself this is fine.

_ “Ori’vod,  _ what-” Cody sighs. “What’s  _ going on  _ with you? I know- I know your old general wasn’t good, but I don’t understand why you’re this- concerned.”

Rex crosses his arms. “She wasn’t just  _ not good,  _ Codes.”

“I know. I know that, Rex, but you  _ kidnapped _ one of my Jedi and now you seriously think they might get all of you reconditioned or terminated?” Cody sounds unreasonably frustrated. “You would never have done this before.”

“Yeah, well, that was three years ago.”

“Yeah.” Cody’s voice is hard as durasteel. “I  _ know _ it was three years ago. Because I’ve said your damn name every day you were gone. Because I didn’t think you would do  _ this  _ to me, either.”

Rex flinches and looks down. “I told you I couldn’t do all that again,” he says, a bit helplessly. “And you- didn’t understand.”

“Don’t try to make this  _ my fault.” _

“I’m not!” Rex runs a hand fractiously through his hair. “I’m just- I told you what I thought and you said to try another  _ jetii,  _ but I couldn’t just… do that. And then when I left, I- You- I thought you wouldn’t understand why.” Part of him had been sure Cody would try to bring him back. Not turn him in, never that, but- He couldn’t have  _ gone back _ to the fighting.

“But I thought you were  _ dead, ori’vod,”  _ Cody says, tiredly. “You didn’t even have to tell me anything, you could’ve just- I don’t know,  _ anything  _ woulda been better.”

Rex swallows and pulls his arms forward to cross, defensively, over his chest. “I know,” he says. Wants to apologize, again, but it doesn’t feel like it would be any good.

Cody sighs. “So, what are you even doing now?” he asks, and Rex thinks he’s exhausted, and finds he wants to get out of here all of a sudden.

“I’ve just been picking up brothers,” Rex answers.  _ “Vode _ that get left behind on campaigns or in Separatist outposts or, well, that sort of thing.”

“Oh.” Cody rubs his face, nods. “I mean, that’s good.” He just seems preoccupied, finally blurts out, “You were supposed to be assigned  _ here,  _ you dumbass. To General Skywalker and Commander Tano’s battalion. It- woulda been better.”

Rex feels like things stop, for a second - he considers what it would even  _ be  _ like, to still be here, on this cruiser, and be used to fighting with Ahsoka. And it- probably would’ve been better. Than before. But he  _ hated  _ the war, he hated losing his brothers and not even knowing why he was fighting, and he doesn’t think that would change, anyway, even with better  _ jetiise. _ “I’m  _ sorry,” _ he says, heavily. His throat hurts. “I know I- should’ve told you. But then I-” gods, it feels like a pitiful excuse, “thought it would be worse, after it’d been a long time.”

“It wouldn’t be worse than you being  _ dead, mir’osik,”  _ Cody says, although there’s not a lot of heat behind it.

Rex swallows hard, and only keeps himself from pushing himself to his feet and escaping by telling himself that Cody deserves better, at least, than  _ that. _ “I just… I didn't  _ want _ to ruin everything,  _ ori'vod,”  _ he says, softly. “I just couldn't do it, and I- was confused.”

Cody shakes his head, quickly, and reaches over for a moment to put a hand on the back of Rex's neck and press their foreheads together. “I know,” he says. “It's a lot, though, Rex.” He pulls back, and Rex twists his hands together for a second before going to push himself to his feet.

“Yeah,” he says, useless, and rolls his shoulders back, trying to get some control over himself again. At least- At least Cody knows, now. And Rex is leaving soon, so what- what does it matter, really, if his  _ ori'vod  _ forgives him or not.

He wraps his arms around himself and goes to sit down on his bunk, notices that Ahsoka's back, like she said. He nods at her, a bit, but keeps his head down.

~~~

Ahsoka’s been standing a few rows of bunks away, watching Rex and Cody talk, for a few minutes now - she’d come back from the meeting with Anakin and Obi-Wan intending to talk to Kix, but Kix had been deep in conversation with Jesse, so she’d gone over to Rex instead. And she would’ve stayed further away, given him his privacy, but she wanted to at least let him  _ know _ that she’d come back like she said she would, so she’d stayed and waited for him to glance up.

He hadn’t, until just now, when he walks over to his borrowed bunk and sits down and stares at the floor, and she could swear he’s  _ crying, _ just a little bit.

And maybe he won’t want comfort from a Jedi, but she thinks- She’s going to try, anyway.

So she walks over, sits down next to him, and without preempting, puts her arms around his shoulders.

Rex leans into her, just a little bit, slumps more inward, and she was right, he’s definitely crying - his shoulders are shaking a bit under her arms. She hesitates a second before carefully tightening her hold on him, saying, quietly, “The last time I- needed a hug, you helped me, so- I might not be the most helpful person, right now, but I’m here.”

He nods a bit, says, low and raspy, “Thanks,” and there’s a pause before he slides one arm around her waist, hangs on  _ tight. _

She doesn’t know what to do with the emotion that rises thick and choking in her throat, so she just closes her eyes, leans her head against his, a bit, smooths her palm up and down his upper arm and starts humming.

She’s quiet, at first, because she’s not sure if these songs are hers to hum - when she was a brand new padawan, her nightmares had been- no worse than they are now, but so  _ new, _ she hadn’t known how to cope with all the images and feelings, and sometimes she’d gone to Anakin but in the first weeks she’d wanted him to think she was  _ capable, _ strong enough, so she’d gone to Jesse instead. Jesse, who’d tugged her onto his lap and hugged her, and sang in a shaky, unsure voice, until she fell asleep again, or just stopped sobbing. He hadn’t been very good at it, but he’d  _ tried, _ and he’d later told her those were the same songs Jango Fett had sung to them, when they were younger, Mandalorian history set to music. She’d never asked him to translate the Mando’a for her, and she’d never been able to sing the rippling words very well, but she knows the melodies by heart, now, and she can keep a tune.

So she hums. And she rubs her hand over his shoulder, rhythmic, soothing, and she hopes that maybe she’s helping a little.

She thinks Rex would rather it be  _ Cody _ who was hugging him, right now, but maybe she’s an okay substitute?

After a while, Rex settles, his breathing going more even, and he pulls his arm back - she quickly pulls her arms from around him, just in case, watches as he scrubs both hands over his face, hard.

“Better?” she asks, quietly.

“Fine,” he says, gruffly.

She hesitates, then puts a hand back on his shoulder. “It’s- okay to not be okay, you know,” she says, still soft.

“That’s not what I expected from a  _ jetii,” _ he says, but he’s more tired than defensive, and anyway, she thinks she’s starting to understand him better.

So she just smiles, a little. “Well,” she says, lightly, “I find predictability a bit boring.”

He almost laughs, not quite, just a hum of near-amusement, says, “Yeah, go figure.”

“I mean it, Rex, though,” she says, a bit more serious. “And I- want to help, if I can.”

“I know,” he says. “I appreciate it, Tano.”

She's quiet, for a little while, just leaves her hand on his shoulder, and then she sighs. “Jesse used to sing to me,” she says, a little abruptly. “When I was first assigned, I had- I didn't know how to handle the nightmares, and I thought if Anakin knew he'd say I wasn't ready and send me back to the Temple. So I'd go to Jesse. He had no idea what to do, so he- sang those songs to me. It helped, even though I wasn't a _ child _ anymore.” She shrugs a bit. “But that's how I learned those songs.”

Rex hesitates, then says, quietly, “It's good he did that for you.”

“I know they're your songs, not mine,” she says. “But- I didn't know what else to do, I'm not super good at the whole comforting thing.” She chuckles a bit, although it's more sheepish and tired than anything else.

He finally looks over at her, smiling just a bit, and says, “I don't know, you seem alright at it, Tano.”

She tries a smile in return. “Well, thank you, and- I don't mind. So if you need… anything,” and she gestures loosely at nothing in particular, “I'm here. For a little while, at least. But you can always comm me, if you want to talk.” She pauses, a bit flustered, then hurries on. “Anyway, I think Obi-Wan sent one of his troopers down here with a holoprojector so you could comm Governor Roshti. He's a good person, I think he'd- understand why you want to stay out of everything.”

~~~

Rex raises an eyebrow with a slight, surprised smile at Ahsoka, when she says he could comm her, but lets her change the subject without comment, gets slowly off the bunk and folds his hands behind his back.

He hadn't expected any of this (once again) from Ahsoka. He'd felt as if she was sitting down to tell him to buck up, that it would be fine, not to waste time on- on feeling bad. There are more important things to be thinking about than things being a little off with  _ vode, _ right, that's what she should have told him.

But she didn't, she'd sat down and hugged him and she didn't even try to make him tell her what was wrong. And he doesn't know what he thinks about her humming Jango’s old songs, but he thinks it was at least a kind effort. Abruptly, he decides to turn around, finds Ahsoka still there, and he quickly reaches out and gives her a proper hug of his own. “Really, Tano, thanks,” he says, awkwardly. It's  _ something. _

He's afraid to look at Cody. He doesn't know what would be worse: if Cody seemed upset, like he is, or if Cody seemed fine.

Ahsoka hugs him back, tight, and says, “Anytime,” with a smile.

Rex smiles a bit and pulls away so he can get the holoprojector and call the governor Kenobi mentioned. As he does, a  _ vod _ in armor that's painted 212th orange comes over to him, slightly hesitant, and holds out a flat holoprojector disk.

“The General sent this for you,” he says, and Rex nods and takes it, goes a bit off by himself to try to work out what to do.

Governor Roshti turns out to be an old Togruta man with a quiet sort of smile and a careful manner, and when Rex explains as much of the situation as possible (being sure to suggest that he can easily find somewhere else for his  _ vode), _ the governor tells him he thinks they can work something out.

So Rex settles in and lays out what his  _ vode _ need, how they collaborate, and cautiously obtains a promise from the governor that nothing would happen to them, that they could keep their presence secret, and he lets himself be somewhat optimistic about this plan.


	13. Chapter 13

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Long chapter! Goodbyes and hellos and FRIENDSHIPPERY

It takes Anakin about twenty-four hours to find a pair of ships for Rex and his brothers. During that time, Ahsoka stays mostly in the barracks, talking to Naas and Akaan and a few of the others she’ll miss (like Brii, who’d decided to stay with Rex, because  _ I don’t really want to fight, Commander, I’d rather just draw, and Rex lets me do that all day if I want to), _ and, of course, talking to Rex. Cody manages to worm his way out of being dragged back to the medbay, although Kix is constantly fussing around bringing him medicine and water and threatening to sedate him if he doesn’t sleep often enough (and, once, a barely-awake Scratch shuffles down, in blacks with a blanket around his shoulder, because apparently he’d managed to get Kix to take a rest - he’s pale and shivery and clearly exhausted, and Cody tells Ahsoka in an undertone that he’d slept for some thirty-six straight hours), and he sits with her and Rex a lot, mostly stays quiet.

She catches them talking again, a few times, and does her best to give them privacy when that happens. Hopefully things are- better, between them.

She’s almost sad when Anakin brings the ships back, because that means Rex and his men are leaving. It’s almost  _ strange, _ she thinks, how easy it was to fall into a routine of being around them, much like she would around her own battalion - especially with Rex. She will, she supposes, miss him, and his wry sense of humor, and his warm laugh, and his smile. For all that they’d gotten off to a rocky start (no thanks to him  _ kidnapping _ her and then refusing to tell her just why he was so pissed all the time), she really does like him.

She thinks he and his brothers are happy to be leaving, though, and she doesn’t blame them, although it is sad. She’s not surprised most of them couldn’t see through their prior bad experiences to understand that Anakin and Obi-Wan are different from the Jedi they’d had, but she  _ is _ disappointed.

She helps them all load their crates of supplies into the ships, is surprised to see that Anakin thought ahead and stocked the ships with basic food, medical, and survival supplies, and then, when everything is loaded except the people, she finds Rex standing by himself in an out of the way corner.

“Hey,” she says, lightly, leans against the wall, facing him. “All ready to go?”

“It appears so,” Rex says, smiling a little.

She hesitates, then says, “I was thinking I could- give you my comm frequency, in case you ever need anything, or- want to talk. Or something.” She flushes, a bit, doesn’t quite meet his eyes.

He chuckles, says, “Sounds good,  _ jetii,” _ but he’s still smiling, so- good.

She rattles off the string of numbers, watches him program it into his wristcomm, and tries to think of something to say. Shifts her weight more onto the wall. “It’s been- good,” she offers, finally. “Despite the rocky start.”

“Surprisingly so, yes,” he says, wry, and she laughs, just a bit.

She likes his smile.

“Tell Naas I expect him to get into plenty of trouble,” she says, smiling, because for some reason this is easier than addressing the  _ goodbye. _ She’s not sure why, exactly, but- He’s a friend, now. And she supposes she’ll miss him.

“I think I won’t tell him that,” Rex says, dry as dust. “He does that on his own.”

She snorts, says, “I’m not surprised.” And then she’s quiet, because- What do you say? When you’ve made a friend in some unexpected place and you know you probably won’t see them again, and that hurts more than it should?

Rex shifts, after a minute, and says, “Seriously though, Tano, I’m glad I met you. Even though you’re annoying.” Despite the seriousness at the beginning of the sentence, by the time he finishes he’s smiling a bit again, teasing.

She laughs, says,  _ “I’m _ the annoying one? I think you’ve got that wrong, Rex.”

“No, I’m  _ definitely _ right this time,” he says. “You’re the one who started this whole thing, remember?”

She raises an eyebrow, says, “As far as I remember,  _ you’re _ still the one who kidnapped me. That feels a bit like  _ starting something _ to me.” She’s grinning, though, because- It’s just nice.

“It was  _ Mix _ who made that call, not me.”

“And  _ you _ said that you thought he made the right call,” she says, perhaps just a  _ touch _ smug. “So my point stands.”

~~~

Rex finds that, for some reason, he’s sort of going to miss Ahsoka. Although he won’t miss  _ this,  _ thank you very much. “That is not the same thing,” he huffs, rolling his eyes. Never mind that he would’ve done what Mix did. Or else he might’ve tied Ahsoka up and dropped her in the marsh. Which would have been considerably more tragic.

“It’s close enough,” Ahsoka says (not true), narrowing her eyes at him and poking him in the chest. Which he can actually feel this time because he’s back out of his armor again, thank the little gods. “And you know it.”

“Awful big assumption,” Rex grumbles, adjusting his jacket and then sticking his hands in his pockets. “I don’t know anything like that.” He just manages not to crack a smile.

Ahsoka glares at him, but he’s not too worried about it because a beat later she leans forward and hugs him, head against his collarbone. “I’ll miss you, dumbass,” she says, and he smiles a little, almost surprised.

“Yeah, alright,” he says, gruffly. “Guess I’ll miss you too,  _ jetii.” _

She leans back enough to grin up at him, amused. “But not too much. Because I’m  _ annoying.” _

“Exactly,” he says, deadpan. “You’re catching on.”

“Well, you’re annoying too, so turnabout’s fair play,” she points out, and Rex rolls his eyes with a light laugh.

Before he can tell her what banthashit that is, Cody comes over, completely kitted up except for his helmet, which he’s got under his arm. Rex goes still, feels oddly shaky. He and Cody have been talking, and it’s- not bad, but nothing’s the same anymore. Rex knows that’s all because of him - he’s the one that left, and lied, and then changed - and it’s completely shitty.

Ahsoka steps away from him, quickly, and he kind of wishes she wouldn’t, but doesn’t say so. “Well, see you around, I guess,” she says, and Rex stuffs his hands back in his pockets.

“You’re rushing off,” he says to her, deliberately casual. “You gonna take care of yourself, Tano?”

She hesitates, a little. “I figured you two would want some privacy.” Rex knows they probably do, Cody especially, but he just thinks he’s a little afraid of what Cody’s going to say. Ahsoka pauses, then answers his question: “I always do.”

“That,” Rex says, “Is patently untrue.” He hasn’t known her long, but her talent for self-care seems nearly non-existent. “Get better at it,” he tells her, grinning a little, and quickly puts an arm around her again for a half-hug.

She leans into him slightly. “I’ll try, but no promises.”

“Oh, of course not,” he snorts, and lets go of her. “I’ll probably talk to you later.”

Ahsoka nods, steps back almost reluctantly, and says, “I’m counting on it.” Then she inclines her head at Cody, waves a little at Rex (which is sweet), and walks off with her arms folded.

Leaving Rex by himself with Cody.

“Hey,” he says, lamely, returning his hands once again to his pockets, because otherwise he’ll fidget. Even though Cody  _ knows  _ that. “I guess I’m going.”

Cody sighs. “Yeah. I know you’re glad, but it’s kinda shitty.”

Rex nods, in agreement, sighs slowly and eases the tension out of his muscles. “It is.” He tells himself not to repeat the same apology he's made nonstop since he saw Cody again, knows that the number of times he says it won't make Cody any more likely to forgive him. Instead, he twists his mouth in a wry smile and says, “I'm going to miss you.”

“So comm me,” Cody snaps, and Rex catches a thread of nerves in his voice. “I'm gonna give you my frequency and you have to comm me.”

Rex nods, doesn't quite manage to hide how startled he is, for a second. He wasn't sure Cody would want him to. “Oh, I- Yeah, obviously, Cody.”

Cody snorts, because it is  _ kind of _ a dumb way to put it. “Don’t go dark on me again. I mean it, Rex.” He pauses, like he’s gonna say something else, then shakes his head.

Rex knows, though. Cody hasn’t said a lot to him, but Rex thinks things have been really hard lately, especially, for him.

“I promise,” Rex says, quietly, dead serious. “I won’t, Cody.”

“Okay.” Cody tucks his hands behind him, shifts a little, jaw working. “Look,  _ ori’vod, _ I- Obviously I forgive you. For being stupid and not telling me you were alive.”

Rex swallows. Oh. “I know,” he says. That’s a lie, but he sticks to it.  _ “Vor entye.” _

Cody smiles, a bit, wryly, and tilts his chin in the direction Ahsoka went. “Not a problem,  _ vod. _ But you’re gonna owe me a couple honest answers real quick. Like why the  _ hells  _ does Tano like you?”

“Flattering,” Rex snorts. “Although seriously, hells if I know. I think she’s crazy.”

“That’s true.” Cody shrugs, still smiling. “But that’s not why she likes you.”

“You oughta ask her for me.”

“I might.” His brother leans forward just a bit, getting a touch more serious. “You don’t like Jedi now,” for reasons which Rex had  _ tried  _ to explain but which Cody hadn’t really agreed with, predictably, “but you like her. Why’s  _ that?” _

“I mean, you know her.” Rex shrugs, a bit sheepish. “She cares a scary amount for someone that kriffing small.” He wrinkles his nose. “Same goes for kicking ass.”

Cody chuckles. “I know.” Rex thinks there are other things Cody would like to say, but his  _ ori’vod  _ looks at the two ships they’d gotten him and sighs, goes quiet instead.

Really, they should go. Rex is supposed to meet with Governor Roshti in person, before they try to get a camp set up, and while they hadn’t set a strict time, Rex doesn’t intend to keep him waiting all day.

Cody, as if expecting this, succinctly states his comm frequency, which Rex programs in immediately, even though with his memory there’s not much possibility of forgetting it. Then he realizes everything is just, awkward, because he needs to go but he doesn’t really  _ want  _ to, at the moment, because there’s Ahsoka and Cody and he’s leaving Echo, too, and it’s a lot.

So he steps forward and puts his arms around Cody, tight, and closes his eyes. “Gonna miss you,” he says, trying unsuccessfully to sound nonchalant.

“Yeah,  _ ne’johaa,”  _ Cody says, but he’s not really letting go of Rex so he doesn’t worry about it.

“Okay, talk to you later.” Rex scoots back, stuffs his hands back in the warm pockets of his jacket, and makes himself turn around and hurry over to the two new (way nicer than his old ones…) ships.

This is probably another reason he didn’t say anything to Cody, before. He’s  _ shit  _ at goodbyes. Not his fault, since they always  _ suck. _

It’s fine, anyway, and he almost means that. He has both of their comm frequencies, he has his  _ vode  _ (even though there’s only half as many of them left as when this all started), and he has somewhere to go that’s going to be good.

Maybe things can go back to normal now.

~~~

It’s almost hard to fall back into the routine of Temple life, once the  _ Resolute _ gets back to Coruscant - although the  _ hot showers _ are definitely not hard to get used to again. Mainly it’s the calmness in the air, the lack of all the  _ anger, _ and Rex’s absence.

She’s not used to-  _ missing _ someone like this. Usually, everyone she’d miss is either here at the Temple or in the barracks, and she can see them almost any time she wants, unless she’s on a campaign, and then she’s usually too busy to miss people. But with Rex, she can’t even comm him unless he comms her first, and she’d gotten used to his presence, both physically and in the Force, and his absence is… It hurts more than she’d expected.

She is  _ not _ moping, she tells Anakin,  _ very _ firmly, nor does she keep her commlink on her more often than usual. He can shut his stupid mouth.

Barriss  _ also _ says she seems like she’s moping, but Barriss isn’t Anakin, so Ahsoka has no restraints when she spills out the (abridged) story of her kidnapping and subsequent… whatever the hells it turned out to be. “He’s just  _ funny, _ Barriss,” she says, after a few minutes, “really witty and sarcastic.”

“Ahsoka,” Barriss says, patiently, “you know we aren’t supposed to cultivate attachments, especially not with… angry clone troopers.”

“Come on, Barriss, I’m not  _ cultivating attachment, _ you sound like Master Obi-Wan. He’s just a friend, and I miss him.”

_ “Ahsoka,” _ Barriss says, a bit mischievous, leaning forwards, “don’t lie to me. You’ve been talking about Rex specifically for almost five minutes.”

Ahsoka flushes. “I have  _ not,” _ she says, determined.

“I timed you.”

Force kriffing  _ damn it. _ Ahsoka flops back on her bed, groaning. “Are we gonna watch that holo or not?”

“See, I  _ know _ you’re trying to get out of a conversation when you actually  _ want _ to watch my documentaries.” Barriss is grinning, and Ahsoka flips her off.

“Well, maybe I’ve just developed a sudden interest in, uh, the bioluminescent tree sub-species of Felucia and its moons,” she says, privately impressed she’d managed to remember what the  _ hells _ the documentary series is about this time. “You never know, Barriss.”

“Well, this time, I do,” her best friend says casually. “But I’m not going to turn down an opportunity to try and shove some more actual  _ academics _ in your head, so…”

Only about twenty or so minutes into the holo (kriffing thankfully), Anakin comms saying they “need to talk”, which Barriss claims to just be a fabricated excuse to get out of learning about the complex ecosystems on Moran, another of Felucia’s moons. Ahsoka just laughs on her way out the door.

About a week after Rex and his brothers left for Kiros, he comms her for the first time. Ahsoka is laying on her bed, grumbling over some homework from one of her history classes when her comm goes off - she answers it with a bored, “Ahsoka here, is this an excuse to quit my homework or not?”

When it’s  _ Rex _ who answers, she almost falls off the bed.

She ends up getting out her small, handheld holoprojector and rerouting the comm through there, so she and Rex can actually see each other when they talk. And maybe she grins too much, is a bit  _ too _ excited, but- He’s her friend, and she missed him, and she’s  _ not _ cultivating attachment, thank you very much,  _ Barriss. _

They talk for what she’s surprised to find out is over an hour - she’s startled by a loud  _ Snips! _ from the main living area of her and Anakin’s quarters, has to tell Rex to hang on and yell back at Anakin to  _ shut up, I’m busy. _

His response is  _ not _ shutting up, of course, just a yelled, “If you don’t come out here and work on your meditation exercises they’re gonna start saying I’m not teaching you anything again, so get off the comm, he’ll be there later.”

She swears at him under her breath, but signs off, goes out and (sulkily) does her stupid meditation. It’s not even  _ fun, _ anyway, she’d rather be talking to Rex, who was, she was pleased to see, as sarcastic and funny (and handsome) as she remembered him.

The next time Rex tries to comm her she and Anakin are offworld with a couple companies helping on a campaign, and she has to very quickly tell Rex that while ducking blaster shots. 

Needless to say, they don’t talk.

She’s  _ supposed _ to comm him back, but then things get a bit more complicated, and by the time she gets back to the Temple Obi-Wan is making arrangements for a party the Togrutas on Kiros are throwing to commemorate their induction into the Republic, and they’ve invited a few Senators and, as it turns out, Anakin, Obi-Wan, Jesse, and her.

And it’s  _ fancy, _ which means she has to  _ dress up. _

Formal Jedi robes are too hot, and besides, she’s a padawan and they’re  _ boring, _ so she lets Padme (who’s one of the Senators going, of course) drag her shopping and find her a blue dress with an open back and a light, airy skirt that apparently matches her eyes (not that she’d know) and compliments the stripes on her montrals - she trusts Padme’s fashion sense. Doesn’t let Padme buy the dress, since she can charge the Temple for it.

They’re going to Kiros.

And yes, she’s going to be happy to see Governor Roshti and some of her people again, but she’s  _ mainly _ excited for the plan she’d made Jesse agree to help her with, which involves her sneaking out and finding Rex, once the party’s in full swing. She’s pretty sure he won’t mind her stopping by.

It’ll be  _ fun! _

~~~

The weirdest part, in Rex’s opinion, about settling in on Kiros, is the fact that the colonists genuinely seem to not only tolerate them, but actually be pleased to have them around. Rex attributes a lot of that to, as Ahsoka had suggested, the distinct protection that half a company of highly-trained soldiers can offer, but the day they arrive, Roshti shows them around their colony. The experience is jarring.

Everything is scarred black, from detonated bombs; homes have been broken into, windows and doors shattered out and walls caved in; blaster burns decorate murals that are missing chips of paint; mosaics that spread themselves out over fountains, square pavings stones, and windows are chipped and broken and disfigured. Roshti tells them that some of this work was decades old, with a sad smile, and Rex finds himself horribly angry. Most of this isn’t even intentional, it’s just incidental. The consequences of war. Even these people, who’d tried to keep to themselves, away from the fight, have had their lives thrown into awful, terrible chaos because of it. He’s seeing their scars, the way they sometimes flinch if they didn’t realize how close one of Rex’s men was. And certainly, there is good here, too, in the rebuilding - there are new mosaics being laid, and a mural in progress, and someone is carving some kind of spiralling wood sculpture, and most of the colonists seem comfortable, but the problem is that any of this went so wrong in the first place. It sours his mood, and it takes him real effort to hide that, and to react cheerfully to Roshti’s descriptions of everything.

The governor seems to pick up on his reticence nonetheless, because he doesn’t end up taking them to see all of the town, just smiles and tells them he thinks they get the picture, and invites them all to eat with his people tonight.

Rex refuses, politely, on principle, because the colonists have certainly been generous enough already, and they can’t possibly have the food to spare for seventy-some  _ vode. _ Since the refusal doesn’t appear to cause offense, they take their ships and move about a klick away, much to Rex’s  _ vode’s  _ annoyance, and begin to set up.

With the supplies that the  _ jetiise  _ gave them (all military-issue, which means that they’re not much but they’re  _ good), _ they can get something of a functional camp set up, although they’ll be sleeping in his ships for a while. Rex misses the camp buildings he’d gotten set up on Viridian, and the dependable supply shipments. Still, he and Roshti have discussed the beginnings of a sort of trade deal - the  _ vode  _ don’t have much to offer besides skills and services, but since the colonists are trying to rebuild, and aren’t fighters, it seems like it might all work out.

Once they get everything more stable, and organized, about a week and a half after they came, Rex catches a blip on his datapad that he ends up tracking down. It’s a rough distress signal on the oldest GAR channels, just code, not even a specific message. Rex takes one ship, and four of his younger  _ vode, _ and tracks the signal to a far Outer Rim planet, Abafar, which is all pale white sand, like salt, and scoured old buildings that look like they could fall down any minute.

It’s a Separatist-occupied planet, which isn’t saying much - there are droid patrols, but they, like everything else, are half-assed.

The source of the distress signal turns out to be a  _ vod  _ named Gregor, with neatly cut and slicked-back hair, and a real, proper old set of clone commando kit. He’s living in a run-down little shack on the edge of a town, is irritatingly cheerful, and shoots a furrow in Rex’s hair.

“Been a long time since I saw brothers,” he tells them, comfortably, as they all squeeze into his… house. “I… had a bit of a memory problem. Went MIA, got stuck here.” According to Gregor, he survived most of his peers in a battle on Sarrish and ended up here working for some  _ chakaar _ in the town.

Rex vaguely considers a detour to beat the shit out of the man. Gregor laughs at his indignation and informs him that the man in question was already dealt with.

Rex figures that’s good enough.

Since Gregor clearly isn’t very attached to his current living situation, they end up bringing the commando back with them to Rex’s camp; although Rex gets the sense that being a soldier (or maybe just a fighter) is important to Gregor, his  _ vod  _ also seems quite content setting up a spot for himself in their camp, doesn’t seem to mind leaving his armor put away (if not his fekking  _ fantastic _ heavy-duty blaster).

If they’d outfitted the  _ oridinary vode  _ like this, the war would have been over after a  _ year. _

But Rex doesn’t really care. Gregor’s a good  _ vod  _ to have around, and a good friend.

He comms Ahsoka a couple times. It’s nice, really - she likes to talk, and he doesn’t really, so it works out because he can just listen, when he wants. Her response to his first comm, and subsequent reaction upon discovering he’s the one calling her, is so entertaining (and alright, cute) that he decides not to mention that some of his  _ vode  _ had still been around at that point, before he went to his tent, and that they all found it  _ equally  _ amusing.

She might stop doing things like that, if he told her. Which would really be too bad.

They mostly end up talking via holocomm instead of wrist commlinks, which is nice; Rex is amused because Ahsoka gets very animated, when she talks, but she spends almost the entirety of their first comm call lying on her stomach with her chin propped on her hands. She has  _ apparently  _ been doing a lot of homework.

Rex brags a little bit about the fact that he has  _ none  _ of that kind of thing to do, although he’s been helping with building projects in the Togruta colony (he’s good at that, likes it).

Akaan makes fun of him, later, for talking on comms with her for  _ an hour, vod, I timed you. _ Rex grumbles and tells him that Tano just talks a lot.

Akaan continues being an idiot about it. Go figure.

The Togs are good neighbors, and  _ definitely  _ too generous, although Roshti keeps claiming that he’s  _ not  _ overcompensating them for their help, but Rex doesn’t think all the help from the Togrutas with setting up a garden and sending them  _ “extra” _ supplies they have around, without taking anything back from them is strictly part of their deal. But he can’t argue with Roshti over it, the governor always insists it’s  _ perfectly reasonable. _

While there aren’t a lot of social visits between the colony and Rex’s camp, there’s one little Tog girl that keeps showing up in their camp (after the first two weeks), about ten, he thinks, with rust-red skin and light-grey markings on her montrals and a round, curious face. She brought over a box of paints for Brii one day, because  _ Brii  _ has been making  _ many  _ visits to the colony, ended up sitting on the ground watching Rex and Akaan at target practice. (Not that Rex  _ needs  _ target practice, but it’s a good exercise anyway.) When they got done, and actually acknowledged she was there, she’d gotten to her feet and told them that she wanted to learn how to shoot.

Rex, like a  _ responsible adult,  _ had said  _ absolutely not. _

The girl, who says her name is Teeli, informs him that that isn’t fair, first of all, and second of all she wants to be able to protect everybody if slavers or anybody show up again, because that would’ve fixed things the  _ first time. _

Rex sighs and says  _ fine. _ Only if she does  _ exactly  _ as he tells her. And if she gets her parents’ permission.

She says she does - he’s not sure he believes her, but he starts teaching her anyway. He’s careful with the whole thing, but it’s almost fun, teaching her. She’s a quick learner, thinks he’s annoying, and generally tells him he’s an idiot. He loves it.

Three weeks or so into their residence there, Governor Roshti tells Rex that Kiros’s assimilation into the Republic has become official, so they’re going to be throwing a feast, attended by numerous Senators and some Jedi. “You’ll want to stay clear,” he tells Rex, with a small smile. “I wouldn’t worry about any of them showing up at your camp, though - it’s not really going to be the sort of party you leave early.”

Rex thanks him for letting him know, moves his ships a little further away from their camp and lets his men know.

Turner and Jet both grumble that it would be a great time to go assassinate some people, but Rex ignores them - none of them are  _ serious  _ because none of them are that  _ fekking stupid. _ For a little while, he thinks maybe Ahsoka might be there, but then he thinks that through logically and dismisses the idea. Firstly, why would a  _ padawan  _ be there, and secondly, she would definitely comm and tell him. Tell him  _ too many details, _ more like.

So the day the party is supposed to take place dawns with tension, all the  _ vode  _ up way too early, Rex included. They’re  _ trying  _ to go about things like normal, but they all know that any minute there’re going to be Republic ships making atmo and then there’ll be sentients just a klick away that are not only  _ responsible  _ for everything that’s wrong for his brothers, but could wreck everything they’re starting to build.

It’s just one day, though - Roshti had told Rex that typically, they’d have had everyone stay longer, but considering his people’s continued vulnerability and the very illegal neighbors, they’d decided on one day of festivities only. So Rex and his  _ vode  _ decide that for today, they’re just going to… be quiet and stay home. They wouldn’t want to ruin the party, after all.

~~~

They take a diplomatic ship to Kiros for the party, with Padme and Senators Organa and Mothma and a few others, and Duchess Satine (for the Alliance of Neutral Systems, of which Kiros had formerly been a part of) - Ahsoka’s never been on one this  _ fancy _ before, and she’s grateful for the dress. It helps her look a little more like she belongs.

Anakin will hardly leave Padme’s side (surprise), and Obi-Wan and Satine seem to be debating politics, so for the whole flight through hyperspace Ahsoka sits on a plush couch with Jesse (who keeps fidgeting with the sleeves of his dress greys) and tries not to worry that Rex won’t want her to visit.

She  _ could’ve _ just commed him and told him she was coming, but she’d wanted to surprise him - now she’s starting to regret that decision.

There’s small snacks being offered around by protocol droids, but her stomach is too tied up in knots to eat.

“Oh my  _ gods, _ Commander,” Jesse finally groans, “it’ll be fine. You’re making  _ me _ anxious.”

That’s a lie, Ahsoka knows, because if he  _ was _ anxious he’d be pacing and counting steps under his breath, but she gets the point. “What if none of them really want to see me?” she asks, though, covering up  _ Rex _ with  _ them _ because it makes her feel a little less embarrassed.

“He’ll want to see you,” Jesse says. “Unfortunately. You know, if you  _ really _ were interested in a clone, we could’ve found you a nice  _ vod _ that didn’t  _ kidnap you.” _

“I am  _ not interested in him,” _ Ahsoka states, firmly. This has been an ongoing argument.

(So what if she is interested in Rex? He’s not  _ that _ bad, Jesse just likes to exaggerate.)

“We could’ve even found you a blond one.”

“Jesse!”

“I’m just saying, Commander, you have  _ options.” _ He crosses his arms, scowling a bit. 

“I’m just saying,  _ shut up.” _

The back-and-forth helps with the butterflies, a bit, though, and she takes some weird-looking little sandwich the next time the overly enthusiastic protocol droid comes by, nibbles on it suspiciously and watches the blue-glowing stars streak by outside.

They arrive mid-afternoon, local time, and are immediately greeted by Governor Roshti and several other Togrutas, are given a tour of the rebuilding city and its murals and mosaics and fountains, and shown to the rooms they’ve been assigned for the night, so they can wait to leave for Coruscant until the morning. Probably smart, since Ahsoka’s expecting the party to last for a while.

There’s an open kitchen in the town square and a small stage set up where she thinks a band will be, and tables, and all over are her people, bearing scars from whips and collars and the factories. Children are laughing, dancing around the fountain in the middle of the square, and they spin across a painstakingly-crafted mosaic that speaks of  _ remembrance, _ of  _ joy, _ of laughter even when everything feels endlessly dark. It speaks of  _ healing, _ although not in that word, and Ahsoka looks at the laughing people around her, smiling through their scars, and thinks the Jedi could learn a thing or two, from this.

It’s not until a couple hours later, after the formal dinner has dissolved into dancing to the music (the band is on the stage now) and trading stories across the table, after Anakin and Padme have gone off with not-so-subtle excuses and Obi-Wan has invited Satine to dance, that Ahsoka detangles herself from a conversation by saying she wants to go explore and get some air, nods at Jesse (who looks very grumpy, but nods back), and weaves her way through the elegant buildings towards the edge of town.

She’d unabashedly traced Rex’s comm signal so she could find his camp, and she borrows one of the “free for public use” swoop bikes she sees (she’ll bring it back, obviously) because she doesn’t feel like walking through the verdant green forests and trying to cross the rivers. It takes a little while, twenty minutes or so, but the air is warm and soft on her skin and the sun is still bright, and so she doesn’t mind the time. 

She’s listening to the Force, carefully, but she still almost misses the lookouts until a blaster shot flies over her head - only a quick correction to the swoop bike’s path lets her dodge out of the way and keep the bolt from hitting her or the bike.

“Hey,” she says, stopping the bike, “I  _ borrowed _ this bike, and I really don’t want to have to explain to the Governor why it got shot.”

Tank climbs down out of a tree, red-faced and irritated, says gruffly, “Sorry,  _ jetii, _ didn’t recognize you, with all the fancy clothes.”

She shrugs. “It’s a party, with Senators and stuff, we had to dress up. I just came by to see Rex and Brii and Naas, is that okay?”

Tank sighs. “Leave your bike, my  _ vod’ll _ take it somewhere. Come on.”

She’d been hoping for a little more enthusiasm. It doesn’t help the butterflies, the twist in her stomach, both of which are returning with a vengeance now that she’s  _ here. _ Kriffing hells, why didn’t she just comm Rex and ask him if this was okay? Then she wouldn’t have to be worrying about what to do if he doesn’t want her in his camp, or- Whatever he might say. 

Tank leads her through some trees to an open area in a small valley - she’d noticed the ground sloping down for a while, but now the landscape opens up, and she can see Rex’s ships tucked at the end of the valley, a cluster of tents (not as many as there’d been on Viridian), some targets set up, an open-air kitchen with a canopy over it.

It’s nice, she thinks.

She tries not to feel too out-of-place in her fancy dress and non-clone face, but it’s a bit hard when she’s fairly certain half the brothers wandering around would really rather she not be here. But she sees Rex, standing with his arms crossed talking to a tiny Togruta girl about half his height - she’s holding a blaster and aiming it at a tree that already bears scorch marks, shoulders too stiff and pose awkward and tense. Even as Ahsoka watches, Rex reaches out and gently corrects the girl’s position, saying something, and Ahsoka can’t help but smile.

He looks  _ natural, _ here.

She almost doesn’t want to disturb the peace he seems to have found.  _ Again. _

~~~

Teeli’s aim is getting better, lately, Rex is pleased to see, although he feels a little guilty for trying to teach her anything  _ today _ \- he’d tried telling her to go back to the party, but Teeli had told him that was the dumbest idea she’d ever heard, because she hates dressing up fancy and she didn’t like one of the Senators, and since Rex can’t actually take her back himself, he’d given in.

He reminds Teeli not to hunch up her shoulders and to actually  _ look  _ before she shoots, then hears a loud, “Hey!  _ Vod!” _ off to his left. As he turns to answer, he hears Teeli muttering  _ vod  _ experimentally under her breath.

There’s Tank, looking annoyed, and- Well, damn. “Ahsoka,” he huffs, slightly amused, automatically pulling his blaster out of Teeli’s fingers and crossing his arms. Clearly she was at the party, she’s in a whole lot of flowing blue and looking damn good in it, too. She waves a little, looking sheepish, and he snorts and walks over, Teeli grumpily marching along behind him. “What the hells are you doing out here, Tano?” he asks, comfortably, holstering his blaster and ignoring a quiet little  _ “blast”  _ from Teeli.

Ahsoka shrugs. “They invited Anakin and Obi-Wan and I to the party, because we rescued them. It was boring, so I- figured I’d come say hi. Although I’m missing the  _ dancing,”  _ she adds, grouchily.

“Well, dancing is  _ stupid,”  _ Teeli volunteers, and Rex rolls his eyes.

“Nice of you to stop by,” he says, pointedly, poking the kid in the shoulder. “Although stopping by  _ unannounced  _ wasn’t the  _ best idea. _ Did he shoot at you?”

Tank makes a face and stumps off to go be a grumpy ass by himself, and Ahsoka laughs and says, “Yeah, but I have Jedi reflexes, you know, so he missed.” Ah yes, convenient. She winces a bit, adds, “I wanted it to be a surprise.”

“Well, color the mission a success,” Rex says, mildly, smiling a bit. “What’s with the get-up?”

“It’s a  _ party,”  _ Ahsoka points out, like he’s an idiot. “With Senators. Padme picked it out for me, she said it, uh, ‘flatters my eyes and montrals,’ so I figured it’d be fancy enough.” She snorts, a bit, and Rex nods.

“Eh, she wasn’t wrong. Staying long?”

Ahsoka blinks, then says, “Well, our ship home doesn’t leave until tomorrow morning, after breakfast, so I  _ could _ stay all night if I wanted.” She shifts, some, and adds, “If you- wanted me around that long, that is,” with almost-convincing nonchalance.

“Whatever you wanna do, Tano,” Rex says, with much-more-convincing nonchalance. “If you can tolerate everyone that long, more power to you.”

He can practically  _ feel  _ Teeli’s annoyance, at that, even though there was no way he was letting her stay all night. Dumb kid.

Ahsoka laughs. “I think I can manage.” Then she focuses on Teeli, leaning forward a little. “You know, blasters are pretty  _ uncivilized, _ why don’t you try this?” and unclips one of her sabers from her belt, holding it out.

Rex rolls his eyes, deliberately looks away and down at Teeli when Ahsoka smirks at him.

Teeli crosses her arms, looks from the saber to Rex and back at Ahsoka. “I  _ like  _ blasters, y’know,” she grumbles, unimpressed, but reaches out to grab the lightsaber anyway. Rex isn’t even surprised.

“Well, lightsabers are better,” Ahsoka says, and Rex rolls his eyes again. Like some stick of colorful plasma is really a better option than a dependable blaster pistol. “You can turn it on if you want,” she says, grinning, and Teeli shoots another look at Rex before holding the lightsaber well out in front of her and pressing the button to ignite it, eyes flying  _ wide  _ open when it does come to life, yellow and bright.

Ahsoka takes the opportunity to reach over and put one arm around Rex, although she’s watching Teeli quite closely. “It’s nice to see you in person,” she says, smiling, leaning into him a little.

“Likewise,” Rex answers, narrows his eyes at Teeli because the kid is, predictably, starting to wave the lightsaber around experimentally, and if Rex loses a fekking limb because Ahsoka wanted to be  _ snarky,  _ he’s gonna kill her. “This is Teeli. Teeli, this  _ jetii  _ is Ahsoka Tano.”

“Hey,” Teeli says, absently, and Rex catches her over-compensating with the saber a bit and takes a very large, very quick step backwards so when she swings the saber too far, by mistake, with another sharp, “Oh  _ blast,”  _ she doesn’t cut his leg off.

“Why did you give her that?” Rex asks Ahsoka, and Teeli  _ glares  _ at him and lowers the weapon, fumbling at the switch again so it turns off.

_ “Hey,”  _ she snaps. “I was being  _ careful, _ and anyway, you give me your blasters all the time.”

Rex waves a hand. “It’s  _ different.” _

“It is not!” Teeli marches closer to them and holds the saber back out to Ahsoka with a glare. “You can show me how to use that  _ later,  _ I’m going to talk to  _ Jet.” _

Rex suspects she actually means  _ “I’m going to go sit with Jet and sulk and he’ll probably give me snacks.” _ Whenever she gets mad at Rex, she abandons him to go hang out with Jet. It’s very mature of her.

“Okay, Teelika,” he says, snorting, and she grumbles and flips him off (which he  _ knows  _ she didn’t learn from his  _ vode; _ if he ever meets her friends they’re gonna get a telling-off from  _ someone _ for the frankly  _ appalling  _ things they’re teaching Teeli). As she stomps off, he lets go of Ahsoka and gives her a narrow-eyed look. “Blasters are  _ uncivilized,  _ are they, Tano?”

~~~

“Shut up,” Ahsoka says, rolling her eyes. “Lightsabers are better, anyway, everyone knows that. You’re good with kids.” He is, really, Teeli clearly likes him, and it’s honestly  _ adorable. _

“Lightsabers are  _ flashier, _ not better,” he grumbles. “And yes, I am. Because I don’t give kids  _ laser swords.” _

“Oh, shush,” she says, poking his shoulder with one hand. “It’s a better weapon. More versatile, can be used for attack and defense, at the same time, can cut through almost anything, is  _ great _ for handling blast doors, and yes, it looks  _ kriffing cool. _ How’ve things been going?” It’s been a couple weeks since they’ve talked, much, and the camp had still been in a fairly uncertain state at the time, so she’s interested to see how things have settled down - as they clearly have.

Rex rolls his eyes, but must decide not to push the point, because he just says, “Pretty good. Went out once to track down a distress signal from a  _ vod.” _

She grins. “Anyone I know?” It’s good that Rex is back to saving his brothers, she thinks.

“I don’t think so,” he says. “He’s an old commando.”

Fair. “It’s good you were able to get him,” she says, and then eyes Rex thoughtfully for a moment before deciding  _ kriff it _ and leaning in to hug him, properly. “I kinda missed you, you know.” Maybe a little more than  _ kinda, _ but- She’s not going to just  _ tell him that. _

Rex hugs her back, tight, says, “Eh, guess I missed you too, dumbass.”

She laughs, leans her head into his chest, closes her eyes for a minute, lets herself  _ relax. _ It feels… nice. “You’re the dumbass in this-” She stops. Considers for a moment, then shrugs and finishes the sentence, “-relationship, you know.”

“Keep telling yourself that,  _ jetii.” _

Ahsoka laughs again, hangs on for another moment before she steps back, grins up at him, and says, “So, Rex, you gonna show me around?”

He smiles. “If you insist.”

He starts walking, though, pointing out the kitchen they’ve got set up, the tents all clustered around (she finds Brii’s easily, all bright colors and swirling patterns), the garden the Togrutas apparently helped them farm and are teaching them to maintain. She approves of all of it, tells him so, grinning. It’s  _ nice, _ calm and peaceful, just walking around with Rex, in the light and warmth and  _ green _ of this place.

They end up in front of his tent, and it’s Rex who suggests they sit and talk, so she follows him in, plops down on the floor of the tent cross-legged, fiddles absently with her shoto hilt. “What do you think of the colonists?” she asks, quiet, after a moment.

“They’re too generous,” he says, wry, and she chuckles, “but I like them.”

She smiles. “They’ve been through so much,” she says, shakes her head a bit. “They’ve all got scars, and yet- they’re here, dancing and laughing and rebuilding, and… if I’m honest, I don’t know how they do it, you know? How everything’s so…” She stops, shrugs, looks down. Here she is, still waking up most nights from nightmares of a few short days, and here  _ they _ are, dancing and laughing.

She doesn’t understand.

Rex shifts, a bit. “Well, I’m… not an expert,” he says, slowly, and she watches his face, thoughtful, considering. “But I think it’s partly the rebuilding itself that helps. Plus I figure maybe the art.”

She nods. “Brii draws stuff to cope, we all picked up on that pretty quick, but-” She stops. “When you don’t have things to, to rebuild, how…” and she trails off, looks down again.

The Togruta colonists are out there, now, dancing and laughing and  _ living, _ and she still feels like she’s stuck in that kriffing cage, hanging off the roof of the palace, just another exotic bird for people to look at.

~~~

Rex thinks Ahsoka is asking how people do this, how to deal with things like this without something to  _ do,  _ or make. He looks down, though, and rubs his hands on his pants, because he doesn’t know. There’s so much he can’t let go of, and so much that still twists him apart when he thinks about it, and nothing but finding a new cause has helped him. Saving his  _ vode, _ building things, protecting people: those things help. And, if he’s honest, thinking about a day when he might be able to jam the truth down the throats of everyone who’s made life hells for him and his people and the others who never wanted this. That helps him sleep at night, too. The idea of  _ doing something. _

“I don’t know,” he says, mildly, trying to sound casual, although he feels sorry that he doesn’t have a better answer. “I guess everyone finds something that works. They’re artists, so this is what they do.”

Ahsoka looks down, shrugging, and runs her fingers over her lightsaber hilt, contemplative. “I guess that makes sense.”

Rex sighs and leans over on his knees, rubbing his forehead. “Yeah.” He doesn’t know what else to tell her.

“So what do you do all day anyway?” she asks, and Rex snorts.

“Nothing as exciting as fighting clankers,” he says, sarcastically. “Gotta help with the Togs- with the colonists rebuilding. And trying to get set up here. Went and found Gregor.” He’s keeping an eye on the wartime channels, but so far most of the battles are farther afield than he wants to go yet, with the camp and ships being new.

She nods. “I’ve only been on one campaign since we parted ways and it was less exciting and more… muddy.” Not that  _ any  _ campaign is exciting. “The town’s looking really good, they gave us a tour earlier.”

“Yeah,” Rex says, a bit reluctantly. “Brii is helping with some of the painting. The rest of us are there to do the heavy lifting.”

“I’m sure you’re good at that,” she says, approvingly, looking him over, and Rex leans back with a small smile, half-amused.

“Yeah, takes a  _ lot  _ of talent,” he says, rolling his eyes.

“That was a compliment, you know,” she snorts, poking him in the arm.

Rex huffs a little. “Yes, telling me I’m great at manual labor is a great compliment, Tano.”

“I was  _ saying,” _ she says, and Rex smirks, “that you have nice muscles, dumbass, but if you’re gonna be that way…”

“Alright,  _ jetii, _ calm down,” he huffs, waving a hand and crossing his arms. “We all know  _ that. _ Afraid I can’t take credit though.” Not  _ entirely,  _ that is.

“Maybe I won’t compliment you if you’re gonna be ungrateful about it.” Ahsoka sounds offended, is looking at him with one eyebrow raised, and Rex chuckles.

“Never said I was ungrateful. Just self-aware.”

Ahsoka keeps staring at him, for some unfathomable reason, and Rex smiles comfortably. “Well, you could say  _ thanks _ or something, then.”

“Demanding,” Rex huffs.  _ “Thanks, _ then,  _ jetii.” _

She smacks him in the arm, rudely, and then sighs and lays down, shuffles around to get comfortable, and tucks her hands behind her head. “Your camp is nice,” she says, nonchalant. “I like it. Seems peaceful.”

“Yeah, it’s good,” Rex says. An understatement. He thinks he loves it here - Kiros is more temperate than Viridian, and this valley is warm and sheltered and  _ green. _ And there are people nearby, and they accept him and his  _ vode, _ and it’s finally not fighting and not struggling and it feels like he might really be making something, this time. He always reminds himself the war won’t last forever and then he can really build a proper place for his brothers.

If they  _ ever  _ leave the rest of his  _ vode  _ in peace.

He doesn’t really think they will.

He pushes the thought aside and sighs, shakes himself a little. “I’ve got a lot of projects planned,” he says. “Eventually I… I want this to be more than a bunch of tents.”

“That would be good, I think,” Ahsoka says, softly.

“Yeah.” Rex rubs his hands together, calluses catching on each other. “Depending on how things go.” On whether he can help his  _ vode,  _ whether the Senate screws them over even more, whether the war ever ends without leaving everything that’s good in ruin. “I’m afraid that Kiros joining the Republic will make it a target.”

“I hope not.” Ahsoka looks and sounds tired and worried. “These people have gone through enough.”

Rex nods. “Yeah, the war’s been bad enough for them already.” He doesn’t want anything else to happen to them.

“It’s stupid,” Ahsoka says, with a nod of her own. “They weren’t part of the war - they shouldn’t have been caught up in it.”

“Yeah, well, that’s what  _ happens,”  _ Rex says, with more venom than is fair. “No one gives a kriff who gets caught in the crossfire anymore.” They barely ever have, but it’s worse these days, and he sees it all the time. All that’s left after battles are pieces to pick up, sentient and otherwise.

~~~

Ahsoka sighs, sits up and tugs her knees up to her chest, rubs her hand over her forehead, tiredly. She wants to argue that the Jedi care, that they’ve  _ always _ cared, but the truth of the matter is that the Jedi can’t afford to care, anymore. Because this war has gotten to the point where the Jedi can’t keep innocents out. Even at the beginning, look at what’d happened to Ryloth, to the Twi’leks, despite their best efforts to the contrary. 

And the war just keeps twisting and twisting the Jedi, forcing them to abandon their principles one by one, and how long until they’re twisted into something unrecognizable?

They try, of course, but- when was the last time she went on a mission that  _ didn’t _ have innocent lives lost in the course of the war? When was the last time they successfully kept the fight from causing collateral damage?

She can’t remember.

“I know,” she rasps, quietly, hugging her knees a bit. “It was- Geonosis the second. The last time I went on a mission without, collateral damage.” She shifts, says, “We-” 

Stops.

Sometimes she wonders why they fight - the attempts at peace conferences have all gone bad, of course, and it usually seems like a Separatist plot, but… don’t both sides of this war want it over?

“Sometimes I think,” she says, quietly, “that no matter who wins, there won’t be a galaxy left for the survivors.”

Rex scoffs. “Yeah, no kidding,” he says.

She sighs. “I just… I wish it could be different. But that’s pretty pointless, isn’t it?” If the Republic wins, what will the Jedi be at the end?

“Yeah,” he says, quietly. “Wishing doesn’t seem to get anyone anywhere.”

There’s a long moment of quiet. It’s always been true, of course, that wishing never fixes anything, but she can’t help but wish (and the irony of that, of course, doesn’t escape her) otherwise. 

The silence is shattered by someone yelling from outside the tent, in Mando’a, not urgently - she looks to Rex, asks, “What’d he say?”

He pushes himself to his feet, stretching, and says, “Dinner.”

Oh. Well. Helpful. Ahsoka starts to stand up too, and then hesitates, says, “I ate not that long ago, at the party - I don’t want to take your supplies. I know you probably don’t have very much right now.”

“We’re doing fine,” he says,  _ so _ wry. “I can spare you one fekking meal, Tano.”

She rolls her eyes, but doesn’t push the issue, just stands all the way and stretches out her spine, says, conversationally, “You know, I heard you call me Ahsoka earlier, it was- nice. So feel free to continue.” It’d been quiet, a surprised little comment to himself, she thinks, but she  _ likes _ the way he says her name, she thinks, all low and soft.

“Thanks for the permission,” he says, and the tent flaps rustle, and when she straightens up he’s already gone.

Well. That went… great. “I take that as a  _ no,” _ she mutters, to herself, sighs and adjusts her sabers on her belt and follows Rex out of the tent. He’s already started off for the open-air kitchen, and she jogs to catch up with him. “Hey,” she says, “you could’ve waited for me.”

“Yeah, coulda done that,” he says, smirking a bit. It’s not  _ fair, _ when he smirks like that, what gives him the right? It makes him look way too- Anyway.

She flushes a bit, looks away and crosses her arms, mutters, “Asshole,” under her breath. He just flips her off, casual as can be, and keeps walking, and she glares at his arm (doesn’t dare look to see if he’s still smirking or not). Ends up getting distracted by a voice  _ shouting _ at the top of their lungs - she looks over and it’s  _ Brii, _ covered in paint and grinning.

“Commander!” he says, gleeful, rushes over to her and gives her a quick hug. “The Togrutas said you and Generals Skywalker and Kenobi would be here, I thought maybe you’d come visit.”

Ahsoka laughs. “Well, I couldn’t miss the opportunity to come see my favorite artist, you know.”

“Who’s that?” 

She  _ looks _ at him, and he goes still for a minute before his eyes go  _ wide _ and he says,  _ “Me?” _

She grins, says, “Who else?”

Brii stammers, turns  _ bright _ red, then shrugs and says, “Well, I’m glad you’re here, sir.”

Dinner is slow. Ahsoka sits with Brii, Senaar, Naas, Je’kai, and Rex, talks to Naas about the trouble he’s been causing Rex (even though Naas seems distracted - she understands, everyone here is tense). Chats with Brii about his paintings and the work he’s been doing on the mural Roshti asked him to design. Senaar tells her about all the different birds he’s seen on Kiros - Brii is apparently helping him create a journal by sketching them all so Senaar can document them. Je’kai stays silent almost the whole time, doesn’t really look at her, focuses on eating. His hands aren’t shaking, but she can feel his anxiety through the Force anyway - she smiles at him, makes sure not to move too quickly or talk too loud, and she thinks it helps, a little at least.

After dinner she helps with clean-up and then goes with Rex back towards his tent, walking next to him in an amiable quiet. It’s  _ nice, _ peaceful, and she wishes- 

For a minute, she lets herself imagine living somewhere like this. Someplace warm and green and beautiful, verdant, where the war  _ isn’t, _ where she could live in peace.

She’d get  _ bored, _ she decides, but still. It’d be- nice. For a little while, at least.

~~~

Rex is tired. Most of it is the satisfying kind of tiredness, the kind in his bones that runs deep and comfortable when he’s worked hard, but there is a slight edge of anxiety still that’s been wearing on him. He’s well aware that this event will come and go and leave his brothers unscathed, that nothing will come of it, but he can’t completely convince himself. There’s nothing for it but to wait for tomorrow, when they all leave again.

He isn’t sure whether he should invite Ahsoka into his tent again, and so ends up stopping awkwardly outside it and leaning lightly against one of the supports. The sun is mostly down, so the first stars are gleaming against a dark grey sky, and the moon is hanging low at the horizon. Rex sighs and puts one hand in his jacket pocket, gestures loosely with his elbow. “You sticking around, or going back tonight?”

She hesitates a little, then says, “Well, I- was thinking about staying.” She shrugs. “Unless that’s going to inconvenience you.”

“You’ve been significantly more inconvenient before,” Rex huffs. “It’s not really a big deal.” He grimaces. “Although to be honest, you shouldn’t really stay by yourself.” He doesn’t say, although he suspects she knows, that some of his  _ vode  _ would still be a threat to her. Even though he also knows none of them would risk pissing him off.

Ahsoka settles one hand on her lightsaber, tracing her fingertips along the casing back and forth, a bit nervously. “There are only a couple people in this camp I’d feel comfortable sharing a tent with.”

Rex nods, unsurprised. “Well, Brii's still up - you could go see if he wants to move his supplies. I'm sure he wouldn't mind sharing.”

“Could I just- stay here?” Ahsoka asks, tentatively, and Rex frowns, caught off guard.

He wouldn't have thought he was one of the people she'd feel comfortable with - although they are certainly friends, he'd still kidnapped her and he doesn't exactly consider himself a comforting presence. But he's definitely got more room in his tent than Brii does, and if she doesn't mind, then…

“I guess so,” he says, with a slight smile and a shrug. “Come on, then.” And he lifts the tent flap and ducks inside, holding it open long enough for Ahsoka to follow him in. She does, goes to sit down crosslegged in one corner, and Rex pulls his blanket off his bedroll and sets it aside, rolled up, before sitting down himself.

“I hope I’m not intruding,” Ahsoka says, and Rex decides not to say that he thinks she’s too small to intrude - it doesn’t seem like the kind of comment she’d appreciate.

“You’re not,” Rex chuckles. “If you were staying with Brii, though, you would be, probably. He keeps way too many art things in his tent.”

“Yeah, I figured as much,” she says with a laugh.

Rex rolls his eyes and picks up his blanket, tosses it to her bundled up so it flops over her shoulders. “Here.”

“Do you need it?” she asks, crumpling the blanket between her fingers, looking a bit hesitant.

“If I did, I wouldn’t have given it to you,” Rex points out, dryly. “You’re the one in an impractical dress right now, Tano.”  _ He’s  _ perfectly comfortable. And he’s sure she’s used to sleeping on the ground (unless  _ jetiise  _ get better accommodations these days than  _ vode), _ but at least a blanket would make it better, keep her from ruining her dress on the not-so-clean floor of the tent.

Ahsoka grumbles, to herself, shaking the blanket out and then folding it so she can lay it out on the ground. “Thanks,” she mutters, then scoots down to lay on the blanket, which is laid out parallel to his bedroll - really, there  _ isn’t  _ enough room here for two people, but for one night that doesn’t really matter.

“Don’t kick me in your sleep,” he grumbles, lying down himself and tucking his arms behind his head.

“No promises,” she answers, cheerily, and Rex tilts his head lazily over at her and glares.

“Don’t,” he repeats, raising an eyebrow, “Or you can sleep outside the tent.” Not that he’d do that.

Ahsoka pouts, almost, although perhaps he should be generous and call it an  _ annoyed  _ look, and complains,  _ “Rex…” _

Rex ignores her, stretches his legs out and rubs at his face, somewhat sleepily. “I just don’t want to be kicked, Tano. Go to sleep and shut up.”

She laughs, with a stifled yawn, and says, “You’re funny, Rex,” and adds, “I won’t kick you.”

Rex snorts. “Thanks a lot.”

“You’re welcome, dumbass,” she says, reaching across the short distance to stab her finger into his shoulder.

“I’m not a dumbass,” he retorts, wearily, lazy. “Ask Teeli.” The little girl is spending the night in the camp, only because Rex is  _ not  _ letting her walk home alone and can’t send a man to take her.

“You  _ are  _ a dumbass,” she says, intelligently. “I said so.”

“Your skill for debate is unique,” Rex answers, rolling his eyes and yawning. “Somehow I thought  _ jetiise  _ were better at arguing than this.”

“If you want someone good at debate, ask Obi-Wan,” Ahsoka grumbles. “If you wanna argue, yell at Anakin, I’m sure he’d be happy to oblige.” Rex wouldn’t mind yelling at Skywalker, he thinks, but he’s not sure it would go well, based on what he’s heard about the  _ jetii. _ Ahsoka sighs, adds,  _ “I  _ want you to shut up so I can go to sleep.”

Rex huffs a laugh and shifts a little to get more comfortable. “Alright,” he mutters, closing his eyes. Everything right now is good. Maybe he’ll comm Cody again tomorrow (they haven’t talked much, but  _ some), _ and the  _ jetiise  _ and Senators leave, but at the moment it’s nice seeing Ahsoka.

He breathes slow and deep and easy, lets himself tune into the sounds from around his camp, some talking, the crackling of fires, the snapping of canvas, and it’s enough of a reassurance that  _ all is well _ that it’s easy, comfortable to give into that weariness in his bones and drift off to sleep, tilting his face into his arm.


	14. Chapter 14

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> the plot thickens dun dun duuuun
> 
> unrepentant dislike of Lux but it's not like, bashing, we just really don't like him and Ahsoka can do so much better than scrawny boi so

Ahsoka wakes up slow and lazy and  _ warm. _

She huffs out a breath, nestles closer to the warm, solid presence next to her, tightens her arm around-

Wait.

She pulls her face back just a little and blinks her eyes open, sees Rex is laying on his back, her arm draped loosely over his stomach, and the weight slung across her shoulder must be his arm. This is… it’s surprisingly  _ comfortable, _ and Ahsoka expects to feel trapped, but instead she just feels  _ safe. _

Rex huffs out a breath and tilts his head to one side, opens his eyes and focuses on her, lazily, and she blinks at him and says, “This is actually  _ comfy.” _

“That’s nice,” he hums, sounds utterly uninterested, and she grumbles and presses her face back into his side.

“I don’t remember falling asleep like this, but,” she says, drowsy, “I am perfectly fine with it.”

Rex just grunts and shifts, and she hums a bit to herself and tightens her arm around his waist, absently soothes her thumb over his ribs, curling up a bit more. This is nice, she decides - she could stay here for a while.

Or, at least, she decides that for all of ten minutes, until she remembers with a start that she’d  _ snuck off _ from a diplomatic party and that Anakin and Obi-Wan will be expecting her back, and that if she doesn’t make sure to get back before breakfast her absence will be  _ much _ more obvious and also she might miss the ship back to Coruscant.

_ Kriffing hells. _

She sits upright, fast, says, “How late is it? I need to get back before anyone besides Anakin and Obi-Wan realizes I’m gone.”

(She tries not to mourn the absence of Rex’s arm around her shoulders.)

He sighs, rubs at his face with his newly-freed hand, says, “I don’t even know, Tano, don’t you have a wrist chrono?”

Oh, right. Ahsoka glances at it - it’s set to the  _ Resolute’s _ ship time, but she taps one corner and it syncs briefly to local time, showing her she has about an hour before breakfast is scheduled to start. If she leaves in the next few minutes and takes the borrowed swoop bike, she’ll make it back in time to sneak into her room, change out of the now-hopelessly-wrinkled dress, and make it to breakfast.

She sighs. “Damn. I better get going, but- It was nice seeing you again, Rex.”

Rex sits up with a sigh, smiles a bit at her and says, “You too, Tano.”

She considers for a long moment before swiftly leaning over and kissing his cheek, pulling away and standing in one quick motion. “I’ll comm you when we get back to Coruscant,” she says, smiling hesitantly at him.

“Okay,” he says, and flops back down on his back.

Well, that’s certainly a dismissal if she’s ever heard one. Ahsoka huffs, but she’s grinning as she ducks through the tent flaps and finds where her swoop bike is parked, hops on it and starts it up and speeds out of the camp. 

She’d enjoyed the few stolen hours here more than she should have, she thinks - but these men are (mostly) her friends, and in any case, she’s missed Brii and Naas and Rex. Rex especially. Comming him helps, but it’s just not the  _ same, _ really.

She decides not to think too much about the fact that she’d curled up with him, apparently unconsciously, or how  _ nice _ it’d been.

Or the fact that she thinks she’s going to miss him  _ more, _ now.

Instead, she tries to focus on how exactly she’s going to sneak into the room she and Anakin were given - he’d  _ probably _ gone and stayed with Padme, though, so she should be fine.

He’s  _ definitely _ gonna lecture her later about all this, though. Oh well. It’s not the worst thing she’s ever done, and it was  _ definitely _ worth it.

~~~

Life is good. Rex goes on more self-appointed missions with his  _ vode, _ grieves the ones he lost and welcomes the brothers that decide to stay now. The rebuilding of the Kiros colony continues, although it has slowed, lately. The fact is, simply, that it’s a large project, and although Kiros is a fairly resource-rich planet, the colonists can only source so many of those themselves, and the more specialized work for plumbing and lighting and, admittedly, some security measures requires funds that the colonists don’t have, especially after being raided and taken over by the Separatists.

Roshti tells Rex, one day, as he’s looking over a project Rex had done (it’s just a doorway, sturdy posts, nothing special), that their representative in the Senate is going to ask for aid. Rex, brushing sawdust off his hands and pants, says, “Yeah, I don’t have a lot of confidence in the Senate’s generosity, but I hope you get some help.”

“I don’t expect much,” Roshti says, patiently. “But anything would be helpful.”

Rex thinks, although he doesn’t say, that whatever Roshti  _ expects, _ he  _ deserves  _ as much aid as he wants. Roshti and his people are kind when they don’t have much at all, and since that won’t be reason enough for the Senate, the fact that Republic aid was too late to keep them from being taken by the Separatists oughta speed them up a little. It probably won’t, but for Roshti’s sake, he hopes it’ll work out anyway.

It doesn’t, exactly.  _ Surprise. _

One of the colonists explains it to Rex while he’s trying to figure out how to wire a simple lighting system (he thinks he’s going to have to leave it and call one of his brothers that can do tech). Apparently the committee in charge of relief funding hasn’t had resources to spare in a long time, because of the number of systems asking for help, and there are systems in the Republic that apparently need it more urgently than Kiros, and the committee had made a promise of aid “as soon as it’s available.”

Rex  _ knows  _ it makes sense. He  _ knows  _ they can’t send aid to everybody all the time. But he’s also  _ well aware  _ that the Senate keeps sending more money towards the “production” of more clones, which is only making everything  _ worse,  _ of course they don’t fekking have funds to actually help anybody.

He doesn’t say as much to any of the colonists, just tells himself to let it go and keeps going about his business. The thing is, he can’t really let it go. They’re still trying to figure out how to restore their home to what it used to be, and although they seem patient with the process, Rex is frustrated on their behalf. They shouldn’t have been taken in the first place, and Ahsoka and the others who went to get them out shouldn’t have ended up slaves too, and their joining the Republic has done them no good, clearly (shockingly).

And it’s how it is, like  _ always, _ and he’s well-past tired of it. He’s said that this is how things are, no one cares how it  _ should  _ be, and that’s true. It doesn’t have to  _ stay _ that way, though.

He doesn’t tell anyone he’s thinking like that again. It feels too risky. He just keeps working on building projects and dealing with his brothers and comming Cody and Ahsoka and trying to work out what he could do, to fix things or at least  _ attempt  _ to.

Once, when he comms Ahsoka via her holocomm, the person who answers is  _ not  _ Ahsoka. Rex sees a thin-lined, intelligent face, diamond markings across the girl’s nose and cheeks, and for a moment he thinks that somehow, for some reason, Ahsoka has decided to tell someone about him, and he almost shuts off the comm right then except that if this person is tracing it, it’d be too late to stop her.

“Who the hells are you?” he snaps, sharply, looking around.

_ “Sorry,” _ she says; she has a orderly, crisp Core-world accent.  _ “Ahsoka is in the ‘fresher, I thought I’d get her comm for her.” _

Rex exhales a little, although he crosses his arms. “Oh. I can comm later.”

_ “Don’t worry about it, I was going to go soon anyway.”  _ The girl also crosses her arms, raises one eyebrow.  _ “You’re Rex, aren’t you?” _

He shrugs, contemplates denying it - but then she’s probably only asking because she already knows. “Yeah, that’s me.”

_ “I’m Ahsoka’s friend Barriss,”  _ the girl says, and Rex nods - he thinks he remembers the name. She glances behind her, then leans forward, slightly.  _ “From what Ahsoka’s said about you, I think we might have a few things in common. I’m going to give you my comm frequency, if you ever want to talk with me about… making a difference.” _ She rattles off a string of numbers, twice, and he can’t help remembering them.

Rex is going to ask her what the  _ hells  _ she means, and what the  _ hells  _ Ahsoka told her, but she sits back suddenly and her face softens into a cheerful smile.  _ “Ahsoka, your ‘friend’ is comming.” _

_ “Don’t you even  _ **_start,”_ ** Ahsoka says, and Barriss rolls her eyes and then she gets up and walks out of the range of the holocomm. Ahsoka sits down instead, grinning, and says,  _ “Hi, Rex!” _

Rex forces a smile right back, although his head is spinning. “Hey, Tano. What was  _ that  _ about?”

~~~

It’s been too long since Rex commed.

Well,  _ technically _ it’s only been about a week, but Ahsoka’s  _ missed him, _ and  _ last _ week he’d commed her twice, so really, the fact that it’s been that long is  _ ridiculous. _ Not that she’ll tell  _ him _ that, but she’d just been complaining to Barriss about it earlier today. Hence Barriss’ comment about  _ friends. _

Ahsoka keeps telling Barriss to shut up about  _ cultivating attachment, _ but Barriss won’t. She’s usually teasing when she brings it up, though.

“Barriss just likes to tease me,” Ahsoka says with a shrug. “It wasn’t anything important.”

_ “Ahsoka,” _ Barriss says, from the doorway, and Ahsoka turns so she can smirk at her over her shoulder.

“I’ll talk to you later, Barriss,” she says. “I’ll even come watch that holo about the living crystals with you tonight.”

“Don’t worry about it,” Barriss says, casually. “I’m going shopping with Ao later.”

“Well, have fun,” Ahsoka says, shrugs and turns  back to the comm. 

_ “She seems nice,” _ Rex says, lightly, and she grins.

“She’s pretty cool. A bit,” and Ahsoka pauses, considering, “too rule-bound sometimes, but I like her. She’s my best friend, probably.”

_ “That’s good,” _ he says.  _ “What’s up?” _

She shrugs. “Oh, the usual. Shipping out for Onderon in a couple of days, just me and Anakin and Obi-Wan and Jesse - we’re supposed to be teaching the local resistance force there to fight back for themselves. The Council isn’t super happy about the idea, they keep talking about terrorism,” and she shrugs one shoulder, “but whatever. We’ll probably be gone like a week or so? How’re things on your end?” She hesitates, then says, “It’s been a few days since you commed.”

_ “Sounds fun,” _ he says, and she can’t quite tell if he’s being serious or not. _ “I’m trying my hand at electrical work. Not so good at it.” _ He pauses, then, face unreadable, adds,  _ “The rebuilding’s stalled out, some.” _

“What’s gone wrong?” she asks, and then the door slides open and she adds, “Hang on a sec.”

“Snips,” Anakin says as he walks in, tossing his lightsaber absently in one hand, “you running off?”

She shakes her head. “Just to my room. Why, you need me?”

“Nah, just letting you know I’m going over to Padme’s. Don’t do anything I wouldn’t do, and for  _ kriff’s sake _ don’t spend  _ all _ night on the comm?” He pauses. “Also, Council pushed up our departure to tomorrow morning, so get some sleep.”

“Alright, good to know.” She sighs, picks up the holoprojector, waves at Anakin over her shoulder, and disappears into her room, flops down on her bed on her back, sets the projector down on her stomach, idly, tucks one arm behind her head and fidgets with her shoto with her other hand. “Sorry about that, Rex, I’m back now.”

_ “Yeah, no problem,” _ he says - he looks like he’s settled back on his bedroll, she thinks, and she smiles a bit because even in the blue-glow of the holo, he’s  _ adorable. _

“Anyway, I was wondering - what’s gone wrong with the rebuilding?” she asks, going back to the question she’d been thinking of before Anakin walked in.

_ “Well, it’s just- We can do a lot of work on basic things, but they don’t have the money or the expertise to do the rest,” _ he says, and she nods, flips her saber in the air and then swears when it nearly hits her face, has to abruptly freeze it in place so she can pluck it out of the air.

“And, let me guess, the Senate already has two dozen worlds that’re higher priority for funding,” she says, wry, deliberately ignoring how Rex is laughing at her - yes, she  _ knows, _ she almost hit herself in the face, ha ha ha, very funny.

_ “Yeah,” _ he says, annoyed, no longer laughing - it’s funny how fast the switch can flip, she muses, from amused to  _ grumpy. _ His whole face changes, when he laughs, goes light and warm, makes her feel like she’s seeing a whole different person. It’s  _ kind of _ amazing.

“How’s Teeli doing?” she asks, idly, shifting so she can sit up, setting the holoprojector off to one side and pulling her green saber off her belt. “Has she shot anyone yet?”

_ “Not yet,” _ he says, wry, but his whole face relaxes, warms a bit, the corners of his eyes crinkling like he’s amused.  _ “Although she’s trying her best.” _

“I imagine so,” Ahsoka says, light. Shifts part of her attention off the comm and closes her eyes, reaches out into the Force, carefully pulls all the pieces of her lightsaber apart, one by one, settles them carefully on her bed before leaning over backwards to grab the cleaning kit over by the edge. “She seemed like she was looking for an excuse to.” She idly picks up the power cell, checking the charge on it - sufficient for now, but she’ll need to replace it soon. She better start carrying an extra one on her, just in case - it wouldn’t do to be in the middle of some campaign and have her lightsaber die on her, after all. Anakin would  _ never _ let her live it down.

_ “Yeah, she keeps telling me she’s going to shoot me,”  _ Rex says, dry, although he’s watching her with open interest, and Ahsoka snorts, casually sets the power cell down and, hesitating a minute, picks up her kyber crystal.

“Better be careful,” she says. “That could be one of those embarrassing stories  _ you _ don’t want  _ Cody _ telling me about.” Ever since she started teasing Cody about some of the stories Rex told her, Cody’s been attempting to get his revenge (in all likelihood, at least) by telling Ahsoka about  _ Rex _ as a cadet. She’d been particularly amused by the story in which Rex apparently declared to Cody that  _ he _ had  _ blond hair, _ therefore  _ he _ was the one with the  _ real _ genetic differentiation, thank you very much. She hasn’t figured out the best time to tease Rex about that yet, although she’s sure she will. It won’t be too hard. “Ever seen a kyber crystal before?” she adds, curiously.

_ “Well, no,” _ he says, and she grins.

Opens her fingers and floats the crystal up into the air, twirling it a bit so it refracts the light, shimmering and rainbow and reflecting on her face, the bedspread, the walls a bit. “Pretty, isn’t it?” she asks, watches the crystal’s movement. It still calls to her, humming,  _ singing _ almost - more so now than when it’s in her saber, muffled by layers of durasteel.

_ “It’s alright,” _ he says,  _ almost _ teasing, and she rolls her eyes, lets the crystal drop back into her hand and sets it very carefully aside. Picks up the lens assembly and starts running a cloth over it, the motion methodical and practiced and  _ familiar, _ soothing in that familiarity.

“I guess that’s the best I’m likely to get out of you. Wouldn’t want to compliment the  _ flashy _ weapon, now would we?” She smiles, a bit. “I got that kyber crystal when I was twelve. It’s a Jedi rite of passage, we call it the Gathering - when you’re selected for the Gathering, it usually means you’ve been recognized as…” She pauses, considering. “Master Yoda always says you have to know yourself before you can build a lightsaber.” She shrugs. “It probably doesn’t make all that much sense to a non-Jedi.”

Rex snorts.  _ “It’s not that complicated, Tano. What do you do at ‘the Gathering’?” _ He’s smiling, though, a bit, warm. She likes the way his eyes get warm, too, even though it’s hard to see it through the holo.

“Well,” she says, drawing the word out with relish, “we go to the planet Ilum, which has one of the greatest repositories of kyber crystals in the galaxy. To find your crystal, the one that calls out to you, you usually have to learn something - I had to learn to be  _ patient, _ to quiet my mind and listen.” She can still remember the way it’d felt, all the singing all around her, none of it  _ quite right, _ too worried about the ice door freezing her inside to just  _ listen. _ “The natural days on Ilum are short, and the nights last a long time, long enough to kill you if you’re outside. It’s only warm enough to melt the ice on the planet while there’s sunlight, so if you don’t get your crystal in time, you could get trapped in the caves - I’m not sure anyone’s ever actually  _ been _ trapped, I doubt the Masters in charge would’ve let that happen.” She shrugs a bit, sighs, swipes her cleaning cloth over the lens one last time and then sets it aside, closes her eyes and focuses on putting the saber back together. “If you don’t do this right,” she says, not-quite conversationally, “the lightsaber’ll explode the first time you ignite it.”

_ “No pressure,” _ he says, and then laughs (and she really does like his laugh).  _ “Why am I not surprised that your problem was patience?” _

She grins. “No one was,” she says, laughing with him, because she can’t quite seem to help it. “There are other planets with kyber crystals - there’s an old Temple on Jedha that houses the second-largest collection of saber crystals in the galaxy - but Ilum’s where we all go for our first one. The planet is… it’s weird,” and she falls silent, opens her eyes and plucks her saber out of the air, tosses it in her hands before returning it to her belt. “Sometimes it gives you hallucinations.  _ Sometimes _ those hallucinations are actually the future. Well, they’re  _ a _ future - the future changes all the time, and Force-visions have been known to be wrong, or more commonly, come about because someone tries to prevent them.”

She’d seen her own visions, on Ilum. Visions of screaming, of pain, of a galaxy drowning in blood, of a star burning brighter than the rest, until it ate itself up and collapsed into darkness. A black hole that wasn’t a black hole (or was pretending not to be one?), sucking everything in, even the too-bright star. A war (but this, the Force had been trying to warn them of for decades). The color blue, and the taste of ozone on her tongue, and a raspy voice shouting  _ commander!; _ another voice, one deeper and darker, saying three words over and over again until they’ve blurred into the red-alert alarms of a dying cruiser, a wave of silence sweeping over a battlefield.

_ ‘Wait, jetiise really get visions about things?” _ Rex’s voice startles her out of her memories, and she quickly refocuses on the holocomm, hopes he hadn’t noticed - can’t stop a bit of a shiver. The visions, vague as they were, had haunted her dreams for  _ months. “I thought that was something everyone made up, with some of the other really mystical stuff.” _

“We do,” Ahsoka says, nodding. “Most of the ‘made up’ stuff is probably either an exaggeration of the truth, or it’s really true - there are a lot of things we can do with the Force. And it…” She pauses, considering. “It’s like a sixth sense. If I extend my awareness, I can feel, to an extent, the lives around me, all their Force-signatures. Even when I have shields up I can feel strong emotions - your brothers and all their anger and tension leaked through a lot, when I was there.” She shrugs, sighs. “Anakin’s a bit precognitive in life-or-death scenarios, it’s part of why he’s such a good pilot. His instincts let him correct his flight path to threats he can’t even see yet. I’m not as good at that, but even I’ve had Force visions before. It’s hard, though, you never know if they’re right or not, because sometimes they’re metaphorical, and sometimes they’re  _ very _ literal, or a mix, and you never know what it’s going to be. That’s part of why we meditate, though, to feel and understand the Force more fully.”

She’s never tried to  _ explain _ this much to a non-Jedi before - it’s hard, but in a way it’s… good, she thinks.

~~~

Rex sighs and frowns a little, trying to figure out what to do with this much information about the Force. And  _ visions,  _ apparently. He’s never actually heard about  _ this  _ part of the Force, before. “The old general only ever talked about all the rules for using the Force,” he says, thoughtfully, shifting so he can get more comfortable and tuck one arm behind his head. “All this other stuff seems like- I don’t know, it’s  _ nothing  _ like the stuff she’d talk about.”

_ “The Force is deeply personal to us,” _ Ahsoka says, which Rex doesn’t understand,  _ “and we all experience it differently. Anakin’s…  _ **_unique,_ ** _ and as the Council is fond of complaining about, my training has been rather unconventional.” _ That explains it, Rex supposes - the reason she’s an exception to the rule.  _ “Also, I’m a lot younger than your general, and I grew up in a war. Some things aren’t as important to me as they are to the older generation.” _ She sounds a little entertained by that, and Rex huffs a short laugh.

“You mean like quoting all kinds of impractical  _ rules  _ like a protocol droid, those kind of things?” Rex snorts.

_ “Exactly like that,” _ she says, laughing, eyes bright.

“If you ever quote any of you  _ jetiise’s _ rules at me, for any reason, you should just be aware I automatically stop listening,” Rex teases, yawning a bit.

Ahsoka grins.  _ “I mean, I usually do the same thing when Obi-Wan or the Council starts lecturing me, so…” _

“You’re a  _ jetii  _ after my own heart,” Rex huffs, rolling his eyes and sighing. “Still can’t believe I like you, by the way, Tano.”

She laughs, brightly, eyes crinkling, and leans forward a little.  _ “The highest of compliments,” _ she says, teasingly, voice dry.  _ “And for the record, I can’t believe it either.” _

“Congratulations,” he says, fighting a smile. “You have the dubious honor of being the one and only  _ jetii  _ I have ever liked.”

_ “What, don’t you and Anakin get along?” _ Ahsoka asks, oh-so-teasingly, with a smirk, and Rex rolls his eyes.

No, he did not like Skywalker, and he is not  _ obligated _ to like him, or even say he did. “No,” he huffs. “Something to do with me kidnapping you. And-” He cuts himself off, deciding that insulting Ahsoka’s Master to her face is a little… rude. “Anyway, not really.”

_ “Oh well,” _ she says, cheerfully.  _ “That just means I get you to myself.” _

Rex snorts and rolls his eyes. “Yeah, good for you,” he says, sarcastically.

They talk for a while, until sometime in the middle of him talking about some building project he’s been doing with the colonists, he stops looking vaguely at the canvas of his tent to see Ahsoka’s reaction to a comment, and finds the holocomm’s angle slightly askew, because Ahsoka has  _ apparently  _ fallen asleep. She’s got her head resting on her hand, so her cheek is pushed flat, and she’s snoring, softly enough he hadn’t heard it when he was talking. He stops, chuckles to himself, and hesitates a second before clicking off his comm and setting it aside so he can go to sleep too.

Talking to Ahsoka is good.

He decides not to worry about her strange Mirialan friend, because whatever delusions she has or whatever kind of offer she was trying to make, he’s not really interested in making another  _ jetii  _ acquaintance. It was just a prank, he’s sure, some kind of crazy hazing thing.

Doesn’t matter.

The next couple days, Rex doesn’t comm Ahsoka or vice versa, since she’s on a mission. He also avoids comming Cody, for reasons he can’t entirely explain to himself, and although everything is mostly the same as it’s been, there’s a comm frequency and an unexplained offer sticking in the back of his mind.  _ If you ever want to talk with me about… making a difference. _

What the kriff does  _ that  _ even mean? And what did she mean about  _ from what Ahsoka’s said about you,  _ what has Ahsoka said that made her think she needed to subtly (he could tell she didn’t want Ahsoka to know she had done it) give him her comm frequency?

He should just comm her to find out. And then when it’s all a big joke, he can forget it and move on. (And then if it’s not… then he’ll decide what to do with that, if it’s relevant.)

He doesn’t  _ actually  _ decide to comm Barriss until two days after Ahsoka leaves for her mission. He’s not needed for anything, today, and his brothers are mostly napping or eating late lunches, and he sits down in his tent to go through his datapad and considers it again.

Comming Barriss doesn’t mean anything, he doesn’t even know what she wants. And really, it’s most likely a prank - if not, the suggestion  _ making a difference _ is… interesting. At the very least, he wants to know what Ahsoka told her. He doesn’t  _ really  _ think Ahsoka would say anything that would get him or his men in trouble, not on purpose, but he doesn’t like the implication in what she said.

So he sighs, gets out his wrist comm, and tunes in the frequency. Hesitates a second before sending a series of pings, the GAR shorthand for  _ are you somewhere where you can talk. _

There’s a pause before he gets an answer, long enough he assumes the answer’s  _ no  _ and finds himself vaguely relieved; when the answer does come, though, it’s Barriss’ voice, distinctively sophisticated and efficient.  _ “Barriss here.” _

“This is Rex,” he says, firmly. He doesn’t know why he feels uneasy. “Ahsoka’s friend,” he adds, in case she’s forgotten, although something tells him she hasn’t. “I- had some questions.”

_ “I thought you might.” _ She sounds almost amused, which sets Rex’s teeth on edge.  _ “Ask away, Rex - I’m not busy, at the moment.” _

Rex takes that to mean they can talk freely, crosses his arms and shifts a little. “You said you thought we’d get along. What gave you that idea?”

_ “Ahsoka talks about you a lot,”  _ Barriss says, with a hint of wryness.  _ “Forgive me if I'm judging incorrectly, but it sounds as if you're rather angry at the Jedi Order.” _

Rex tenses. “And what if I am? That doesn't give us anything in common,  _ jetii.” _

**_“If_ ** _ you are, that gives us something fairly significant in common, Rex.” _

Rex stops, considers the implied idea for a moment. A  _ jetii,  _ Ahsoka's  _ friend, _ being angry at her own Order, like he is? Not impossible, he supposes, but unexpected. And hard to believe. “You hate them too?” he asks, deciding he might as well put his cards out on the table and see what happens.

_ “I hate how they have corrupted their ideals,” _ she says, flint-sharp and hard.  _ “This war has made my Order forget itself.” _

Rex grunts agreement, quiet, thinking hard. He hesitates before volunteering more of his own opinion, because this is a risk that could kriff over everything he's been working on, if he's not careful. “I agree,” he says, finally, low. “They're commanding armies of my  _ vode _ and they don't care - no offense - that none of us ever got a choice in this. And for a lot of peacekeepers - again, no offense - they don't do a whole lot to work towards peace.”

_ “No offense taken. I have… thought, before, that they need to understand what they're doing, but I'm afraid they don't listen very well.” _

Rex's heartbeat is really damn loud. He shifts again, shrugs to himself. “If you wanted to make a difference,  _ jetii, _ you'd have to  _ make _ people listen.”

_ “Funny,”  _ she answers, smoothly,  _ “I think that, myself. I'd like to discuss this with you again, Rex - only if you think it's worthwhile, of course.” _

Only if he thinks it's worth discussing. Maybe only if he thinks they should do something?

He's been looking for a way to get to the  _ jetiise,  _ hasn't he? This could be the answer. “So we're clear on where we stand,” he says, sharply, “you want to know if I want to talk more seriously about how to get people to listen.”

There's a pause.  _ “Yes.” _

“I'll comm you,” he says, and cuts off the connection.

~~~

Onderon is hot, all jungle, creeping vines and curtains of moss and trailing limbs, the darkness making it hard to make out anything beyond vague shapes; Ahsoka tugs her hood up over her montrals and squints through the night, meets Jesse’s eyes and nods once, then jumps up into the trees on Anakin’s left. Obi-Wan does the same, on Anakin’s right, and then they all start off, careful-slow, just in case the rebels have set traps around their base. They’re trying to attract the rebels’ attention, because they don’t know  _ exactly _ where their base is, other than the coordinates Saw Gerrera gave them through his old, warworn holotable. 

She hadn’t been expecting to see Lux Bonteri with the Onderon rebels. She’s still not sure how she feels about him - he’d been a friend where she hadn’t expected one, the first time she’d met him, and they’d contacted each other occasionally, early on. But until Lux had tried to join with Death Watch, just before the Viridian campaign, she hadn’t spoken with him in… a long time. 

She still has mixed feelings about him. 

They successfully find the rebel camp, which is less secure than Ahsoka had hoped it’d be - if there’s an attack, they have  _ no _ cover whatsoever, and their only hope would to be to trap themselves inside the rickety old ruins they’re using to sleep and cook in. Lux is there, with a man who introduces himself as Saw - right away she can tell he’s Steela’s brother - and she watches the two of them, watches Saw’s anger and thinks,  _ here is someone who would understand Rex. _ They would get along well, maybe  _ too _ well, she thinks.

Lux, on the other hand…

She studies him, for a minute, thinks about his smile and eyes, the way he’d pressed his palm to the glass when he’d ejected his escape pod, and then unbidden she thinks of Rex, laughing as she almost drops her shoto on her face, smiling at her as he says  _ you have the dubious honor of being the one and only jetii I’ve ever liked, _ tackling her back off the conveyor belt as a grenade explodes where she was standing. And perhaps she can’t help comparing Rex’s jawline and muscles to Lux’s…  _ everything, _ and finding that the person in front of her, smiling and clearly happy to see her, comes up wanting.

It’s not his fault. But she can’t quite return his smile.

The rebels’ situation isn’t quite desperate, but it’s close - there aren’t many of them, and very few of them have any real training. Lux can speak, of course, but right now what need do they have for a Senator’s son? Steela’s a sniper, born and raised, and Saw’s proficient in several forms of martial arts as well as competent with a blaster (and she thinks she sees a couple vibroblades hidden on him, too), and the both of them are natural leaders (Steela more so; her brother is too angry, too unrestrained, is all of Rex’s fire and none of his fine-tuned control, like- like Fives without Echo), but the two of them together can’t be an entire resistance. She and Jesse help them train, teach them how to roll droid poppers through destroyer shields and how to disable tanks, and Anakin and Obi-Wan attempt to pound their strategy through the rebels’ heads, and the whole time she tries to avoid being too close to Lux. Because he  _ looks _ at her with those grey eyes of his like he’s begging for something, and it’s something she can’t  _ give him. _

He corners her one night (and she sees Jesse shove to his feet from where he’s been sprawled, drinking what she  _ suspects _ is Dip’s illicit moonshine from a flask), after half the rebels have gone to bed and she’s considering stealing some of Jesse’s definitely-not-alcohol and crashing, herself. (Maybe the moonshine will help with the dreams.) She signs at Jesse,  _ stand down, _ because she has faced down so many worse things than a boy who wants- Well.

She supposes he isn’t the worst kisser, but at the time all she’d been able to think of was Molec’s voice whispering  _ just wait until you’re mine, _ and she still knows  _ why _ Lux did it but it’d taken everything she had not to yank away from him like she’d been burned.

(And a part of her remembers waking up with her face buried in Rex’s chest, his arm around her shoulders, and somehow  _ that _ hadn’t felt like cage bars, not the way Lux’s hands had.)

“Ahsoka, it’s- good to see you,” Lux says, warm, and he’s so- She doesn’t know.

“It’s good to see you too, Lux,” she says, more tiredly than she means. She just doesn’t want to  _ deal _ with this right now. “Sorry, I was kind of hoping for some peace and quiet tonight.”

“Oh, I’ll try not to be a bother,” he says, and smiles, and she just- Rex would’ve  _ known, _ already, and wouldn’t have even approached her. “I just wanted to know how you’ve been? You haven’t commed since Carlac.”

“I’ve been… busy,” she says. It falls flat, even to her ears. “Look, Lux, I’d rather not talk tonight, if that’s okay.”

He shifts a bit, smile fading away. “I’m sorry, Ahsoka, I just-” He stops. “We worked so well together, and you saved me from the biggest mistake of my life, and I thought perhaps we could… get to know each other better.”

“Lux,” she says, as gently as she can manage, “you’re a good friend, and I’m glad I could help you, but I can’t give you anything else.”

He goes very still, then nods, although she can  _ tell _ he wants to protest. But he’s too well-trained as a politician to - he just closes his eyes, briefly, then says, “Of course, Ahsoka. I’m lucky to have you as my friend.” And if his voice hitches a bit on the last word, she’s not going to embarrass him further by pointing it out.

She smiles, a bit. Inclines her head and bows, just a little, although that feels almost too formal, because it makes Lux take a step back, and she doesn’t  _ like _ the hurt in his eyes, the  _ betrayal _ almost, but the  _ warmth _ was just too much.

“Ahsoka,” he says, very soft, “I don’t understand- You let me kiss you.”

And she  _ stops, _ for a minute.

“Did I?” she asks, mildly, crossing her arms. “I don’t remember you asking.”

Before he can say anything else, she turns and walks away.

_ “Commander,” _ Jesse says, appearing at her elbow before she’s more than ten steps away, “do you need me to go p- um, discourage him?”

“Not your kind of discouragement,” she says wryly, grinning over at him. “I think I got my point across.”

“If he touches you, I’m gonna deck him in the  _ gett’se,” _ Jesse declares, and she  _ laughs, _ can’t help it.

“Just try not to start any fights? We’re trying to win this planet back.”

“I know, sir. But it’s really no inconvenience,” he says, with a credible attempt at nonchalant reassurance.

“I’m aware,” she says, pats his shoulder. “Settle down, Jesse.”

He grumbles something she’s pretty sure she doesn’t want to understand under his breath, then says, “Here,” and holds out his flask.

She raises an eyebrow. “Is that-”

“No, sir, it’s not Dip’s illegal moonshine, because he doesn’t brew that since the warning you and General Skywalker gave us.”

Which means it  _ is _ the moonshine. Just like she thought. “Thanks,” she says, taking the flask from him, sighs tiredly.

“You’re welcome,  _ vod’ika,” _ he says, and then pauses. “Are you  _ sure _ you don’t want me to punch that  _ vaar’la besom _ for you?”

“Yes, I’m  _ sure,” _ she says, laughing again. “But thanks for the offer.”

She can’t wait to tell Rex about Jesse calling a Senator’s kid a  _ scrawny lout. _

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Mando'a translations:
> 
>  _vaar:_ scrawny, half-grown
> 
>  _gett'se:_ balls


	15. Chapter 15

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well, everything is kind of awful. But it's fine.  
> Totally fine.  
> Yep.

Rex doesn’t comm Barriss again for a while. Not until he has thought through the vague ideas he’s had, pulled them into some sort of order, and reminded himself that this is, indeed, needed. It’s been a few rotations, and he sits himself down with morning caf, on the edge of camp, comms Barriss again and exchanges some meaningless niceties of conversation. He’s not paying much attention to any of it. He feels too anxious about this - there are so many ways this could go wrong.

_ “Is now a bad time to discuss this?”  _ Barriss asks him, and he realizes he’s been quiet for a while.

“No.”

_ “Well, I can tell you’re not invested in hearing about what I did today,”  _ it’s a light jab, but an irritating one anyway,  _ “so why don’t we discuss business?” _

Rex nods, although she can’t see him, and takes a sip of caf, curling both hands around his cup. “Fine. That’s why I commed. I think we should attack your  _ jetii  _ Temple.” He doesn’t think she’ll like the idea - from the sound of things, she still likes the  _ jetiise  _ as they used to be, so it seems like she wouldn’t want to damage the Temple. But he thinks it’s the best idea.

Barriss is quiet. He thinks that means she’s thinking - she seems to speak very decisively, much of the time. Then he hears a thoughtful hum, and she says,  _ “That could be effective. Did you have anything more specific in mind?” _

“Well,” Rex says, carefully, “I thought if- a  _ jetii _ was responsible for an attack on your own temple, people might see that- you’re not all as infallible as you think.” He doesn’t know how to help his  _ vode, _ but getting people to see about the  _ jetiise… _ that comes first.

_ “Good in theory,”  _ she answers.  _ “I’m not sure how we could accomplish that, Rex - the Temple is difficult to access if you’re not a Jedi, and although I like the idea, I’d rather not be the Jedi we’re making responsible.” _

They would need another  _ jetii  _ to help. Or a way to  _ frame _ another  _ jetii. _ “I never said it was a whole plan,” he says. “Just what I was thinking.”

In the course of their discussion, they tentatively decide on a bombing, to get their point across - it’s a messy kind of attack, but the easiest to carry out without incriminating themselves. Barriss suggests that perhaps they could catch some of his  _ vode  _ in the crossfire, but Rex says  _ no. _

Not intentionally, not that. He will not make his  _ vode _ a means to his own end, like the  _ jetiise _ have done.

Barriss agrees without much reluctance, so he lets the suggestion go.

The difficulty of the plan remains their need to either recruit another  _ jetii _ or else frame someone, and since recruitment seems unlikely, they have to find a way to set off explosives in one of the most known and guarded places in the entire galaxy, and it can’t look like either of them had anything to do with it.

It’s Barriss who suggests they use some form of microexplosives, and also Barriss who says that she’s pretty sure that there are some that could be small enough to feed somebody without their knowing (Rex informs her that she’s right, they could work with nanodroids, he thinks Tank even has some). There are  _ pieces _ of a good plan, there, that they can work with, but nothing is really concrete.

It’s Barriss, again, who points that out.  _ “We can’t really begin to plan this until we have a culprit in mind,”  _ she says, thoughtfully.

They need a  _ jetii  _ who is believable as a bomber, somebody not too well-known or powerful, somebody Barriss actually has access to and who they understand well enough to use without pulling too many strings.

Rex is aware of the most obvious option long before he admits it to himself - he’d already thought about it before, after all.

“You’re right,” he says, neutrally, weighing his options. This is an opportunity he’s wanted for over a year now, a chance to get the  _ jetiise’s _ attention, make them see their own hypocrisy and maybe make everyone else realize it too. There’ve been how many thousands (even millions) of  _ vode _ lost in this war - one bomb doesn’t make up for it, isn’t anything in comparison. But people will notice, because it’s not just a bunch of soldiers on distant battlefields anymore, it’s the fekking  _ jetiise Temple. _

But at the moment, he is fairly sure that their best choice for a scapegoat is Ahsoka Tano. And as badly as he wants this, wants to  _ do something, _ maybe he should stop and think about implicating somebody uninvolved, especially if that somebody is  _ Ahsoka. _

But sometimes that  _ happens, _ and it shouldn’t have to, but that’s how things  _ are, _ so he’ll do what he has to.

“Not sure you’ll like this idea,” he says, with forced ease, “but it would make sense to use your friend Tano.”

_ “Well, I’ll be honest, I had the same thought,”  _ she answers, rather slowly.  _ “I didn’t think you’d go for it.” _

Rex shrugs. “It makes logical sense. And I think we agree this is important.”

_ “Yes. In that case, would you like to talk specifics?” _

“Actually, I- think I have some things to get to, right now. We can talk later this week,” Rex says, and Barriss accepts the suggestion, so he disconnects the comm and gets up, tipping over his mug of caf to pour the now-cold drink on the ground.

He guesses that was productive. Decides not to think too much about it today, he has work to do.

~~~

Anakin and Obi-Wan come to Onderon for Steela’s funeral and to bring Ahsoka back home to Coruscant.

The bacta patch is cool and damp against her shoulder, the bandages keeping her from doing much beyond rolling her shoulder back - a good thing, she thinks. She’s taking painkillers regularly, but the blast that knocked her away from Steela’s reaching hand had gone completely though her shoulder. Even with the meds, it  _ burns. _

What burns worse, almost, is the sting of  _ failure. _

She knows she did everything she could. That the droid shooting her just as she was about to take Steela’s hand wasn’t her fault. And she’s glad her friend’s sacrifice influenced Lux towards the Republic.

The thing is, all those things are exactly why it hurts so much.

Because from the beginning, the Jedi  _ saved people, _ that’s who they  _ were, _ to her - Master Plo the Jedi who’d found her, kind and  _ glowing _ in the Light, and she’d looked up at him and known this is who she wanted to be.

But the Jedi aren’t saving people, now. Even when there’s nothing more they can do, people are  _ still dying, _ innocent lives are being pulled into this war. Lux’s mother. Steela. The Twi’leks on Ryloth who they couldn’t save, whose villages were bombed. Every single citizen on the  _ countless _ planets she’s set foot on who got caught in a grenade. The Togrutas on Kiros.

_ We are not saviours, Ahsoka, _ Kalifa had said, on Wasskah, months ago now. She’d kept Ahsoka back from an (admittedly reckless) attempt at challenging their captors too soon, had called them  _ survivors. _

Kalifa was more right than she’d known, Ahsoka thinks, now, as Anakin expertly lands the shuttle in the Temple hangar - the Jedi no longer fight to save people. They’re all just fighting to  _ survive. _ And Ahsoka believes in this cause, in stopping Dooku, in reuniting the galaxy and ending the war the Jedi never wanted to lead, but-

How can it be worth it, she almost wants to ask. When they’re losing everything they  _ are, _ the  _ core _ of them, to this war? Is survival really worth it if the survivors are unrecognizable?

“I’ll go by the medbay in a bit, Master,” Ahsoka assures Obi-Wan, following him out of the shuttle - Anakin’s still in the cockpit, is muttering something about  _ blasted- _ and a babble of Huttese she can’t make out over clanging parts, which she takes to mean there’s something that needs fixing. “I just want a moment alone, first.”

Obi-Wan nods, somberly, and hesitates before resting a firm hand on her uninjured shoulder. “I want you to know, Ahsoka,” he says, quietly, “that I am  _ very _ proud of you. This was not an easy trial.”

She looks down, swallows hard. “No, it wasn’t,” she agrees. “I can’t help wondering- If I’d stepped in, helped them fight, maybe Steela would’ve lived.”

“Maybe. But that was not your duty,” Obi-Wan tells her, almost  _ tender. _ “I understand how you feel, Ahsoka - believe me, I do,” and he’s so  _ honest _ she can’t help but believe him, “but we cannot fight this war for everyone. It was your job to enable the rebels to win their freedom, and you  _ far _ surpassed our hopes. Ahsoka,” and his tone changes enough she looks up, meets his eyes, sees only certainty and belief there, “you have proven yourself a wise and understanding Jedi, and I am  _ honored _ to have been one of your Masters.”

Ahsoka smiles, swipes at her eyes, and lunges forward to wrap her good arm around Obi-Wan’s chest, burying her face in his robes for a minute. “Thank you, Master,” she manages, pulls back and takes a deep breath, and then bows.

Obi-Wan bows back and says, with a bit of a smile, “You best get used to calling me  _ Obi-Wan, _ Ahsoka - I don’t think it will be long.”

She shakes her head a bit, but tilts her head and says, “Thank you, Obi-Wan,” bows again before turning on her heel and heading for the Temple hallways and the privacy of her room.

She’s  _ tired. _

She sets the holoprojector up on her bed, when she finally makes it back to the rooms she and Anakin share, comms Rex and gets herself a cup of water while the comm is connecting, fishes out the last of the painkillers Dendam’s doctor gave her and swallows them down, sighing to herself. She’d been  _ so close _ to saving Steela,  _ so _ close, and if her concentration had just held a second longer, or if she’d been able to keep her feet-

It doesn’t matter, now.

She drops back down to sit on her bed, rubs tiredly at her face, and drains the rest of the water in her glass before turning to the holoprojector and Rex. “Hey,” she says, quietly, tries for a smile.

_ “What happened to  _ **_you,_ ** _ Tano?” _ Rex asks, raising an eyebrow - he looks worried, and she sighs, stops bothering with the smile attempt.

“Got shot at close range from a new type of aerial droid with long-range blaster cannons,” she says, flat, rolls her shoulder back and winces a bit. Kriff, it  _ hurts, _ even through the haze the painkillers are starting to cast. Everything aches, and she leans back against the pillows on the bed, closes her eyes. “I just got back from Onderon.”

_ “How'd that go?” _ he asks, sounds _ more _ concerned, and she opens her eyes, shakes her head a bit.  _ “Besides the obvious.” _

“Well, they won their planet back with almost no Jedi aid,” she says. “The only time I stepped in was to rescue their general, and- at the end, to save my friends’ lives. Only…” She pauses, looks away to stare at the wall. “I was using the Force to lift someone back onto stable ground after she’d nearly fallen off a cliff when I was shot. And I dropped her. She didn’t make it.” She’s quiet, absently smoothing one hand down her leg. “But the new tactics worked - I stayed behind to watch and advise the rebels, and the only help we needed to give them was a shipment of high-grade rocket launchers on top of regular supply drops.”

_ “Sorry about that. Glad it went alright,” _ Rex says.

She shakes her head, again. “This whole war is-” and she stops, trying to gather her thoughts. “All Onderon’s King tried to do was keep his planet neutral, and because of that, the Separatists took over. There were so  _ many _ innocent lives lost, Rex, caught between us and the Separatists. The Jedi can’t  _ save everyone _ anymore.” Not that they did beforehand, she’s not that naive, but at least before they  _ tried. _

Now she’s having to learn how to  _ let people die. _

“My mandate was to stay and watch, to observe the effectiveness of the strategy so I could report to the Council, and not to get involved - we weren’t there to fight the war for them, that would’ve defeated the point. So I stood back and watched people die, when I know I could’ve saved them if I’d fought.”

Rex is just watching her, and for a minute she’s almost afraid to meet his eyes - she knows how he feels about the Jedi and their part in the war, knows he doesn’t agree. He just shifts, thoughtfully, says,  _ “I see.” _ Pauses, then adds,  _ “That wasn’t easy for you.” _

It’s not quite a question.

“It wasn’t,” she says, looking down. “I would’ve stepped in, to save their lives, of course I would’ve. But the Council specifically ordered me to stay there and just… observe and advise, and in any case, the Republic couldn’t technically intervene. It was a civil war, an internal affair, even though the king on the throne had been put there by the Separatists.” She pauses, closes her eyes and takes a deep breath in. Swallows. “I know you don’t approve, but-” She stops, shrugs, and then swears under her breath as that tugs on the injury in her shoulder.  _ Kriff, _ it hurts now.

Rex doesn’t say anything for a long moment, and she shifts back and forth on the bed, absently sifts through her belt pouch in the hopes of finding a couple more painkillers - she really doesn’t want to go to the medbay just yet.  _ “Well, what did  _ **_you_ ** _ think about it?” _ he asks, finally, serious.

She takes a long minute to put her thoughts together before she answers. “I understand why my orders were to stay back and not interfere,” she says, after a pause. “If we’re going to make this an effective strategy - teaching planets to rebel against the Separatists themselves, I mean - we had to see if they  _ could _ do it without Republic or Jedi aid. But…” There aren’t any more pain pills, and she sighs and rubs at her shoulder, grimacing a bit. “I hate that war strategy has become so important that the Council is asking us to step away from our core principles, of compassion and protecting the innocent. This war needs to  _ end, _ Rex, it’s done so much damage to the galaxy and to the Jedi Order as a whole.” She shakes her head. “But every time we try diplomacy, Dooku ruins it somehow.”

_ “At least people are fighting for themselves, though,” _ he says, and she watches his face closely.  _ “Maybe it’ll make more systems understand what shit this war is, if it’s more personal.” _

Ahsoka frowns, considering. “I think that most non-Core-world citizens  _ do _ understand it,” she says, thoughtfully. “It’s the Core worlds and the privileged living on Coruscant who keep voting for the war to go on, it’s the corruption in the Senate and the Chancellor’s influence that keep them voting to fund more clones. And it’s the fact that Dooku could care less about his Separatists and what they  _ actually _ want. This war’s been engineered from the start, that’s why we think the other Sith is somewhere high up in the Senate.”

_ “Well, somebody needs to get them to understand,” _ Rex says, sounds frustrated, and she  _ understands _ that frustration,  _ “because nothing’s gonna change until they do.” _

“We’re hoping if we can identify and destroy the Sith, it’ll bring the war to an end,” she explains, tiredly. “If we can end the war we can go back to cracking down on crime across the galaxy, to restoring peace, to helping root out corruption like we’re  _ supposed to. _ We’ve been brought too far into politics by this war. I’m afraid… that it’s changed the Jedi too much for us to ever go back.”

She closes her eyes, leans back against the pillows more, sighing. She really should go to the medbay, if Kix finds out she  _ didn’t _ when she has a  _ hole in her shoulder _ he’ll lecture her for  _ weeks. _ But she’s tired and she wants to be alone, right now - or, well, not entirely alone.

She wishes Rex was here in person.

~~~

Barriss has said things like Ahsoka just said, before. Rex isn’t really sure what to say, about any of this - he doesn’t want to argue with Ahsoka, doesn’t even disagree with her, but part of him just wants to be angry at her, too. That would make everything easier.

But he just sighs and rubs his face, shaking his head. “I don’t even know what I think will help anymore,” he says, which isn’t quite true, it’s just that the war feels like something that will always be here - he’s known nothing but this war his entire life, and it’s exhausting, so he’s got to do  _ something. _

Ahsoka sighs, tiredly, and Rex almost wants to tell her she should just go to sleep - with that injury, she should be careful.  _ “I’m not sure either,” _ she says,  _ “but we can’t just keep on doing the same thing. It’s not  _ **_working,_ ** _ obviously.” _

“No,” Rex says, “it’s not.” Which is why he has do something else. The Core world people care about the  _ jetiise _ where they’ve never cared about the  _ vode, _ so this is what takes to get their attention.

She shakes her head and shifts a little, brow furrowed.  _ “How’ve you been?”  _ she asks, like she wants to drop the topic, and Rex lets it go, because it’s too hard to talk about all that with her, anyway.

“Alright,” he says, which doesn’t begin to cover it, but it’s more or less true - he and Offee have finished their plans, nearly, and so now it’s just a matter of time. Time and getting to Coruscant. “What about you, glad to be home?”

_ “Yeah,” _ she says, with a laugh.  _ “I’m looking forward to a real shower.” _

Rex snorts. “You know, I don’t think I’ve ever had one of those,” he says, conversationally. Sonic showers do the job fine, he doesn’t get everyone else’s fascination with “real showers.”

_ “You’re missing out,”  _ she tells him, and he rolls his eyes because of course she’d say that. She hesitates, and he’s thinking of a comeback when she adds,  _ “You know, if you came to Coruscant you might get one.” _

“Oh?” Rex says, briefly very aware of his own heart beating against his ribs and trying too hard to be casual. “You’re advocating that I come all the way to  _ Coruscant _ for a  _ shower.” _

_ “Well, obviously, there’s other things on Coruscant too,” _ Ahsoka huffs, rolling her eyes.  _ “Like me. And it’s been a couple months.” _ She sort of grins, and Rex smiles right back, trying to ignore a heavy coldness in the pit of his stomach.

“Are you saying you want me to make a social call?” he asks, a bit teasingly. “You know I’ve been avoiding Coruscant.”

She raises an eyebrow, bright-eyed.  _ “A social call with the benefit of  _ **_hot showers,”_ ** she points out.  _ “I visited you last time, it’s your turn to travel.” _

“I don’t know,” he says, with a smile. “I’ll consider it, Tano, what about that?”

_ “That’ll have to do,” _ she answers, also smiling.

Rex chuckles a little and leans back, trying to think of something to talk about that isn’t his whole strange business arrangement with Barriss Offee and the resulting plans. “You know, I commed Cody the other day,” he says, a bit pointedly. “He says you’ve been teasing him a lot and it’s my fault. I have to say, I’m pleased.”

_ “I told you,” _ she says, cheerfully.  _ “Scientific interest.” _ Then she partly sits up, wincing, but there’s a very mischievous look in her eyes and a smirk playing around her lips.  _ “You know, he also told me some interesting things, though.” _

Ah, gods damn it. It was too much to hope that Cody wouldn’t say anything in retaliation, of course. Rex sighs, makes a little  _ go on _ gesture. “Did he.”

_ “Like, for instance...” _ she says, smiling wider,  _ “Your blond hair is the  _ **_real_ ** _ genetic differentiation, is it?” _

Rex groans and rolls his eyes, looking away. When he and Cody were cadets, sometimes Cody bragged about being a designated command trooper, because he was programmed  _ different _ than ordinary CTs. Rex had told Cody that he had a special genetic differentiation  _ too, _ and his was better because it meant he looked  _ different, _ had blond hair and everything. He’d been  _ four _ at the time, who could blame him? He tells Ahsoka as much. “He wouldn’t shut up about being CC,” he huffs, rubbing his forehead, “and I was four. It made sense.”

Ahsoka bursts out laughing at him, shaking her head. She looks warm and amused and  _ almost  _ fond.  _ “Your hair is very nice, Rex,” _ she says, and he rubs his head sheepishly.

“Shut up,” he grumbles.

She laughs again, leans forward.  _ “Truly a genetic differentiation to be proud of.” _

“Come on,” he grumbles, but really, in his defense, things like  _ blond hair _ are a big deal, to the  _ vode. _ Since otherwise they’re all just carbon copies of Jango and have to work harder to distinguish themselves from their brothers. “Look,” he adds, grumpily, “It was a big deal. You shoulda heard how proud my friend Forester was of his one green eye.” The longnecks tried to get them to see those aberrations as a negative thing, but nobody was anything but jealous of Forester’s mismatched eyes. Nobody ever confused Forester for some other brother.

_ “I’m not saying I blame you,”  _ she chuckles, then leans back and rubs her eyes a little with her good arm. Rex smiles a little at her, sympathetic, and sighs.

“You oughta sleep, Tano,” he says.

_ “Mmm, yeah, suppose so.” _ Ahsoka sighs, wearily.  _ “Oughta take a shower, too.” _

Rex chuckles, and says, “Yeah, good luck with that.”

She flips him off, and shuffles around to lay down, wincing a bit, and the holoprojection shakes. Rex smiles at her again, says, “I better let you sleep, huh?”

_ “You could just- talk. If you wanted to,” _ she says, but Rex shakes his head with a smile.

That’s too much. That’s a vulnerable suggestion. “I think Naas needs me,” he says, glancing away. “I’ll get back to you on coming to Coruscant,” he says. “If you were serious?”

_ “Alright,” _ she says, with a nod.  _ “And yeah, I was, it’d be nice to see you again. We could get breakfast.” _

Rex chuckles. “Yeah, Tano. Good idea. Talk to you later.”

_ “You too, and tell Naas hello,” _ she says, sleepily, smiling.

“I will,” Rex says.

Hangs up the comm call and goes to find Naas - not because Naas needs him, though - he thinks he needs Naas’ particular way of talking about things, and thinking. He feels too mixed up and deceptive. He needs to be sure he knows what he’s doing.

~~~

In the weeks that follow Ahsoka’s return from Onderon, some things become easier - she doesn’t see Steela reaching desperately for her in her dreams as often, relaxes out of the all-too-easily ingrained habit of looking over her shoulder all the time. Some things, however, don’t change much at all, like the continually growing realization that the war doesn’t seem like it will ever  _ end. _ They have to fight, of course they do, but what if there’s another way? 

During this time, she goes with Anakin on a couple small campaigns, mostly just cleanup of a couple Inner Rim fights, one lightning-swift planetary campaign that only takes a couple rotations and ends with one very-scrapped droid commander, another planet won back for the Republic, and half a million people without homes.

This  _ can’t _ be the will of the Force, she thinks, as she follows Anakin and Jesse back towards the transports waiting to take them to the  _ Resolute _ and Coruscant - Master Plo and the 104th are already onworld with relief supplies, which will help, but she watches as a tiny girl curls over herself in the bombed-out shell of what was probably her family home and wonders how any of them can think this is  _ right. _

She already knows they don’t.

It’s not long after that Master Yoda specifically requests Ahsoka to escort a group of younglings to Ilum for the Gathering - with Master-  _ General  _ Krell a traitor and dead, and most of the Masters needed out on the front, with the war as bad as it is, they’re low on options for escorts, and Ahsoka’s one of the few senior padawans in the Temple. With Barriss’ healing skills, she can’t be spared, so it’s up to Ahsoka to take the younglings to Ilum, talk them through the construction of their lightsabers, and bring them back safely to Coruscant.

Except the war can’t even leave her alone for that long.

Well, alright, it’s technically not the war at  _ first, _ just Hondo being Hondo (which is an entirely different issue, the fact that the Jedi are now so busy they no longer have the time to crack down on piracy - except that the fight on Onderon would’ve been lost without Hondo’s help smuggling, so-), and the younglings do a magnificent job at rescuing her - until it  _ is _ the war all along, and Ahsoka fights Grievous for the first time since the listening station so long ago, now. Fights, and she knows she does a good job, does what she can, and they  _ do _ all make it safely offworld, and back to Coruscant. Master Yoda tells her no one could’ve done a better job, but Ahsoka finds herself thinking no one should’ve  _ had to. _

The war could’ve killed six children -  _ children _ \- just for the crime of being in its way. Has killed so many other children for less than that, even.

She’d always thought the fight worthwhile, but now she’s not so sure. And that scares her, unbalances her, more than she’d like to admit.

She and Rex have been making vague plans for him to come to Coruscant since she’d commed him after Onderon, but now those plans are finally coming to fruition - a week after bringing the younglings back from Florrum, she’s taking a speeder and leaving the Temple for a landing platform not too far away. She’s  _ excited, _ unaccountably so. She’ll get to see Rex in person, not just through the flickering blue of a holo, for a few  _ weeks. _

She’s not sure why he’s staying that long, but he’d told her he was going to be, and she’s too glad for the time with him to question it.

Ahsoka pulls the speeder up to the landing platform Rex is supposed to land his ship on a few minutes before he’s supposed to arrive, sits in the driver’s seat and waits.

This will be good, she thinks, and maybe she’ll even get some peace about  _ everything, _ for a change.

~~~

Rex leaves his ship in full armor (because here on Coruscant, a clone in civvies would stick out like a herd of banthas), automatically settling his hands behind his back and scanning the landing platform for Ahsoka.

She’s not hard to spot, perched in a speeder with her chin on her hands, grinning, and when he closes the ramp of his ship and starts toward her, she climbs out of the speeder and strides over to him, steps light. He smiles, behind his helmet, says, “Hey, Tano,” and she hugs him quickly.

“It’s good to see you, Rex,” she says, then reaches up with a little sideways smile and taps his helmet. “It’d be even better if I could  _ actually _ see you.”

He chuckles and gestures at her speeder. “You know what my face looks like, Tano.” He’d rather keep the helmet on till he’s somewhere a little more secure, even though nobody will probably care much about one more clone, even a blond one. He just keeps thinking somebody’s going to  _ know _ he’s not supposed to be here.

As they walk over to the speeder, Ahsoka rolls her eyes, muttering, “That’s not the point,” but Rex just chuckles and climbs into the vehicle, amused.

“Call it security,” he says. “Makes me feel a little easier about being here.”

She nods, powers up the speeder, and twists to look at him. “So, do you want to go see Cody first, or go have breakfast?”

Rex raises an eyebrow, considering briefly, then shrugs. “I’m starving. Cody can wait.”

“Breakfast it is,” she says, with a grin, and pulls away from the landing platform.

She takes him to a rounded, low little building with square windows that looks like a box somebody left on the ground by mistake, and the lit sign by the door says  _ Dex’s _ in blinking Aurebesh. It looks more pleasant than a place like it has a right to, and Rex smiles a bit as Ahsoka parks the speeder and he steps out onto the ground.

“A diner, huh?” he says. He’s never been to any kind of restaurant, not even a diner - the closest he’s gotten was the clone bar 79’s, a long time ago.

“Not just any diner,” she tells him. “The best one on Coruscant.”

“I’ll take your word for it,” he huffs, following her to the diner door and ducking his head to go inside. He pulls his helmet off, immediately smells meat and grease and any number of other delicious things, and he tucks his helmet under his arm and follows Ahsoka towards a worn-looking booth.

Before they can get there, a short, paunchy Besalisk with a whiskery mustache intercepts them, spreading his hands welcomingly in front of him. “Ahsoka! It’s been a while since  _ any _ of you came around.” Rex stifles an inappropriately amused smile as the man practically smothers Ahsoka with a four-armed hug.

When he lets go, Ahsoka scoots back, rolling her eyes, says, “We’ve been a bit busy, Dex, don’t you watch the Net?”

“Not anymore,” Dex grumbles. “It’s all been a little crazy for my tastes, Ahsoka.” He blows out a noisy, annoyed breath, and waves two hands. “But never mind - sit down and enjoy yourself. On the house, just this once, hm?”

“You say that every time, Dex,” Ahsoka chuckles, shaking her head, and Dex dismisses the comment with an amused noise and stumps away so they can go to a booth.

Rex sits down across from Ahsoka, setting his helmet on the seat next to him and shaking his head a little. “This place is kind of great,” he says, grinning.

“I told you, best diner on Coruscant,” Ahsoka says, cheerfully. She opens the menu, although not, apparently, to look at it herself, but to push towards Rex so she can point out all the best breakfast food. Frankly, he’s not paying that much attention, because it’s significantly more interesting watching the very earnest expression on her face. Just seeing her over holocomm, he forgot how fekking blue her eyes are, light and bright like the ocean on a sunny day.

She pokes him in the arm, hard. “Hey, quit staring and  _ pay attention.” _

Rex rolls his eyes and glances down at the menu, focusing, since he is in fact  _ hungry, _ and he can’t eat Ahsoka. The stuff she’s pointing out to him does look pretty good. Not as good as Ahsoka, but that might be asking a lot of breakfast food.

Anyway. Eggs.

When a waiter comes over, Rex gets some eggs and caf and some kind of pastry thing Ahsoka says is  _ the best, _ and she gets some waffles and hot cocoa. It’s sunny outside today, which is nice with all the windows - Rex leans back in his seat and sighs, feels nearly content.  _ Nearly. _

But anyway.

~~~

“Anakin really loves those scones,” Ahsoka tells Rex, lightly, leaning her elbows on the table and watching him - he looks far less out of place here than she’d expected, even in all his armor. Maybe it’s the fact that he looks  _ relaxed, _ leaning casually back against the back of the booth, hands on the table, tapping his fingers a bit. There’s something warm and bright in his eyes, turning them all gold and rich - she’d forgotten how  _ intense _ they are, even when he’s relaxed. The holo doesn’t show colors well.

Doesn’t show the sharpness of his jawline very well either, Ahsoka muses to herself, or how tan his skin is, or the particular shade of blond of his hair.

“I’ll keep that in mind,” Rex says, dust-dry, slightly startling her out of her musings, and she grins.

“Of course, Anakin just loves anything sweet,” she explains. “Growing up on Tatooine, he didn’t exactly get a lot of sugar.” She shakes her head, inordinately amused, goes back to studying Rex’s face. He looks  _ different _ than she remembers, although she’s not entirely sure why - his eyes are still just as  _ captivating, _ though.

Rex just nods, looks a bit at a loss for words, and she snorts, rolls her eyes a bit. “So I didn’t mention it after Onderon, because I was a bit… tired, at the time, but have I told you about my friend Lux?”

“No?” he says, sounds curious.

She thinks he’ll appreciate the humor in the story - although she’d felt bad for Lux (especially after Steela’s death), Jesse threatening to “deck him in the  _ gett’se” _ had been  _ funny. _ “So a few months ago, Padme - Senator Amidala - took me with her on a secret attempt to forge a peace treaty with the Separatists. It didn’t go very well, Dooku sabotaged it, but she introduced me to her friend the Separatist Senator, Mina Bonteri, and her son Lux. Well, turns out Dooku had Senator Bonteri killed, Lux got angry about it, tried to join Death Watch - a group of Mandalorian terrorists - I managed to convince him otherwise.” She waves a hand, shrugging. “Anyway, all that happened right before Viridian, and I guess he went back to Onderon, his homeworld, because he was with the rebels there.

_ “Apparently, _ he was  _ interested _ in me,” and she rolls her eyes, “because he wouldn’t leave me alone, and it was making it really kriffing hard to run their training, so I had to explain to him that he’s a good  _ friend. _ He was pretty confused by that - I guess he didn’t figure out that the fact that I didn’t punch him when he kissed me to shut me up on Carlac didn’t mean I  _ consented _ \- but he backed off, and this is the best part- Jesse got really overprotective and was practically  _ begging _ me to let him, quote, deck Lux in the  _ gett’se.” _ She grins, amused - she does feel bad for Lux, she really does. But he’d moved on, and Jesse’s reactions had been  _ hilarious. _

Rex looks  _ annoyed, _ grumpy, almost-  _ disgusted, _ and he grumbles, “You should’ve let him,” shaking his head.

Ahsoka laughs. “Lux is  _ nice, _ Rex, he doesn’t deserve that. And he took the whole thing very well. He’s Onderon’s Senator now, actually - and it’s poor form to punch a Senator. Especially,” and she smirks a bit, “in the  _ gett’se.” _

_ “Watch _ me,” Rex mutters, and she laughs more, shakes her head at him.

“I’m not telling you how to find Lux,” she informs him, not bothering to suppress her grin. “The last thing you need is to get arrested for assault.”

He rolls his eyes, sighing at her (which just makes her grin wider). “I wouldn’t get  _ caught, _ Tano.”

“Well, I’m not letting you just punch my friend,” she says. “It’s  _ rude. _ Besides, Jesse made things very uncomfortable for Lux while he was still onworld - I’m pretty sure he got the message.”

Rex sighs again, dramatic and heavy.  _ “Fine,” _ he says. “Guess that works.”

She laughs, smiling at him, warm and amused. “Why are you so invested in punching Lux, anyway?”

He shrugs. “Doesn’t matter,” he says, deliberately nonchalant, and she narrows her eyes suspiciously.

Starts to question him further, but then their breakfasts arrive, massive and smelling absolutely  _ delicious _ as per usual, so she puts the question aside… for the moment. Only because she’s very much invested in Rex’s reaction to the  _ best _ breakfast on Coruscant - as soon as they’re done eating, well, it’s fair game.

~~~

Rex’s reasons for wanting to punch Lux are his own, and are fairly personal, so he doesn’t mind the drop of subject - most particularly because with the pause in conversation comes  _ food, _ and a lot of it.

The caf is steaming hot, and the first sip scalds his tongue, but he can still tell it’s better than the stuff he can make in his camp. He tries the eggs and then the pastries (scones, as Ahsoka said), and for a bit decides that conversation is overrated and focuses on scarfing down the late breakfast.

“This is great,” he tells Ahsoka, when he’s mostly finished. “Glad you brought me here.”

“I told you,” she says, smugly, and he snorts and picks up his mug to sip more of the caf. She leans forward, smirking a little, and says, “So.” He pauses, narrowing his eyes over the rim of his cup. “Why do you want to punch Lux?”

Rex wants to punch Lux because dumbass kid Senators can’t just go around being little  _ assholes _ without consequences. And besides that, on an unrelated note,  _ Lux Bonteri _ can take his interest in Ahsoka and keep it in his pants where it belongs. He decides it wouldn’t be appropriate to express  _ either _ feeling to Ahsoka, so he shrugs. “Because he sounds like a pain in the ass.”

“He’s  _ nice, _ Rex,” she says, which he finds  _ doubtful. _ “It’s not like he’s a bad kisser, he just should’ve  _ asked first.” _

Rex takes a sip of his caf, irritated, and then sets it down to point at her. “Not really interested in that much information,” he says, flatly. “If I wanted to know whether he was a good kisser, I would’ve  _ asked.” _

“Oh, sorry,” Ahsoka says with a snort, not sounding sorry in the  _ least. _

Rex rolls his eyes and goes back to his caf.

Ahsoka leans forward across the table a little, raising an eyebrow, and asks, “Is that jealousy I sense, Rex?”

The  _ audacity. _ Rex leans back, sets his caf down again with an irritated noise, and  _ looks _ at her. “Keep dreaming, Tano.”

She purses her lips and sits back, smugly, says, “I think it  _ is.” _

“Think what you want,” he mutters, reaches out to steal a sticky piece of waffle off her plate. The syrup is cloyingly sweet, but it’s  _ good. _ “Doesn’t make you right.”

“Hey!” Ahsoka leans over to slug him in the shoulder. “That’s  _ my _ breakfast, asshole.”

Rex rolls his eyes and wipes his fingers off, chewing exaggeratedly. “What are you gonna do about it, Tano?”

In answer, Ahsoka spreads her fingers against the table, palm toward him, and his mug of caf skids across the table into her waiting hand. She doesn’t look away from his eyes as she picks the cup up and takes a long sip, and Rex glares at her, deadpan.

“Hilarious,” he mutters. “Give that back.”

“Make me,” she tells him, challenging, smirking.

Actually trying to get the caf back would probably end with it spilled all over the table, so Rex makes a careless, frustrated gesture and sits back. “Never mind, then,  _ jetii. _ Don’t need it.”

She makes a pouting face, grumbly, and shoves his caf back at him. He takes the mug in both hands and lifts it up to his face with a contented (and perhaps exaggerated) sigh. “Thank you,” he says, with undue formality, a grin pulling at his lips a little.

“Don’t steal my waffle,” she warns, seriously, and he chuckles.

“Fair enough.”

Ahsoka grins, sits back, picks up her cocoa, and takes a pleased sip. Rex shakes his head at her, amused, and looks around them at the diner and out the window at Coruscant. “Gotta say, I do like this place,” he says. He feels far more comfortable here than he’d have thought possible, although really he attributes the comfort to the company.

“It’s nice,” she says with a smile, leaning against the back of the booth and appearing to settle in more comfortably. “How’s everyone doing?”

“They’re good,” Rex says. And they are - all his  _ vode _ love Kiros as much as he does. “Brii wanted to ask to come with me, but he’s in the middle of some big project with the colonists - they’re working on some kind of mural, I guess, and Brii didn’t want to leave in the middle of it. And Naas apparently  _ borrowed  _ some tricks from you, because he’s been even  _ more  _ of a nuisance lately.”

Ahsoka  _ giggles,  _ brightly, says, “I am so proud,” and Rex laughs.

“Of course you are.” He taps his fingers against his cup of caf. “Akaan said to say hi,” he says. “So did Chip, and Senaar,” and there had been, actually, a number of  _ vode _ who asked, most of whom he’s forgotten, “and Kyr, and… Bet, too.” He shrugs. There were other  _ vode, _ he thinks, but he can’t remember - plus some of his brothers had only said to tell her hello so they could tease Rex about going to see  _ his jetii cyare, _ which was  _ irritating. _

Jet and Turner and some others are  _ furious _ that he’s doing this.

Rex doesn’t think they’ll stay mad at him.

“How sweet,” Ahsoka says, laughing. “What do they think about your trip?”

“Depends,” he sighs. “As you’d expect. Some of them still think you’re bad news, but mostly they didn’t care.” He doesn’t mention the teasing. She doesn’t need to know about that. “What about you, I suspect Skywalker doesn’t like that I’m here?”

Ahsoka grimaces, rather predictably. “No, he really... doesn’t approve. I told him to kriff off. Obi-Wan just kinda gave me one of his  _ looks, _ I’m pretty sure it’s the  _ Ahsoka, a Jedi is not supposed to cultivate attachment  _ look.”

“Oh right,  _ that _ rule,” Rex grumbles. The fekking  _ impossible, _ stifling idea that the  _ jetiise _ came up with that people aren’t supposed to get  _ attached  _ to individual people. He heard  _ that _ one from Galina a lot, because the  _ vode _ were too concerned about each other’s personal safety for her sensibilities. She’d told him that their tendency to put individual wellbeing over the needs of the group was dangerously impractical in wartime, never mind that the battalion’s cohesion came almost entirely from their connection as  _ brothers, _ their training not to leave each other behind. He shakes himself a little, folds his hands together. “Well, I hope that doesn’t make this visit a problem,” he says.

“Of course it won’t,” she says, dismissing the concern neatly. “I’m old enough that both of them let me make my own decisions.” Rex huffs a little, smiling, and then she leans over the table, eyes flashing eagerly, and says, excitedly, “I think Obi-Wan’s lobbying to the Council to have me face my Trials.”

“What’s that?” Rex asks.

Ahsoka looks at him, momentarily, like he’s an idiot, then blinks and says, “Oh right, I keep forgetting you aren’t familiar with the Jedi. It’s a… test, of sorts, and if I pass - basically - they’ll Knight me.”

Rex nods, thoughtfully. “No more  _ Padawan _ Tano then, huh?”

“Nope,” she says, grinning proudly. “I’d give my beads to Jet if I didn’t want to give them to Anakin,” she adds, conspiratorially, and Rex grimaces.

“By the way, Tano, that whole thing - I’m sorry about that.”

Her expression softens. “I know. You’ve been forgiven for a while. Him, too. I can’t exactly blame him for wanting to do the same thing to a Jedi that a Jedi did to him.”

“No,” Rex says, somewhat reluctantly, “but it wasn’t right, anyway.” Jet’s a good  _ vod, _ but he’d make the whole galaxy pay twice for his pain, if he could. The thing is, it wouldn’t help him, much less anybody else. “I didn’t say anything before, but- They shouldn’t have taken your beads.”

Ahsoka reaches over to him, sets her hand on his, her fingers cool and soft. He almost wants to pull away. “Thank you, Rex, I- appreciate that. It… didn’t feel great, when they did.”

“I know,” he says, frankly, smiling a little, subtly pulling his hand away from hers and covering the motion by taking a sip of caf. Suddenly everything feels a little bit like a lie (as if it  _ isn’t _ one, this whole visit is just a cover story), and he has to distance himself from that. “I’m hoping… I don’t know, that if things get better, they won’t be so angry.”

Maybe  _ he  _ won’t.

“I hope so,” Ahsoka says, taking a drink of her cocoa. “Being angry all the time is  _ exhausting.” _

“You don’t have to tell me,” Rex mutters, sighing. “Anyway, Tano, as great as this is, I gotta say I’m anxious to say hi to Cody. Maybe we could get going?”

“Sure, yeah, I’ll just let Dex know we’re going,” she says, with a nod, and Rex grins a little because he fully expects Dex to hug her again. “Do you want me to come with you or leave you alone?” she adds.

“You can save your disappearing act, this time, Tano, we’re not gonna kiss or anything,” Rex snorts, although he does appreciate the consideration. If he ever  _ does  _ want time with just his  _ ori’vod, _ he’s pretty sure all he’d have to do is say so. Which is kind of nice.

It occurs to him that out of everyone, Cody is the only one that might see that Rex is hiding something - the only one that might not buy the explosion and Ahsoka’s supposed involvement as just a coincidence. Rex doesn’t know how he’ll deal with  _ that, _ at all.

He decides to save that concern for later. He can’t think about it right now.


	16. Chapter 16

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Everything's fine now, right?
> 
> Right. Definitely.

Ahsoka goes up to the counter, after rolling her eyes at Rex - he probably thinks he’s _so_ funny. Actually, he is, but she’s not going to _tell_ him that. Instead, she just ignores his comment, yells into the kitchen, “Hey, Dex, we’re leaving!”

There’s no answer, but after a moment Dex comes out of the kitchen, wiping his hands on the towel tucked into the waistband of his pants. “You better start coming by regularly again,” he says, and unceremoniously hugs her, all four arms almost lifting her up off the ground. _“All_ of you. Obi-Wan’s too skinny, I don’t think you’ve been feeding him.”

“I’ll tell Cody you said that,” she says wryly. “I’m sure he’ll appreciate the advice.”

Dex chuckles. “Ahh, the one and only thing the good Commander appreciates about my establishment,” he says, not at all seeming offended. Ahsoka’s pretty sure the only time she’s ever seen Dex offended was the one time someone insulted the food, and that got the offender thrown out on their ass in the rain. It’d been fun to watch.

“I’ll tell Obi-Wan and Anakin know you want to see them,” she says.

“And those troopers of yours,” Dex adds.

“Alright, Dex,” she says, laughing. “See you later, and thanks for the food.”

“Don’t get into too much trouble, now,” the Besalisk calls, already starting back for the kitchen.

“No promises!” she shouts after him, cheerfully, and then turns for the door. “C’mon, Rex, let’s go.”

Rex is laughing, behind her; she ignores him, walks out into the sunlight and stretches a bit, sighs and makes for her speeder, hops in. It’s a good day - she’s missed Rex, his sarcasm and his humor. The prospect of him being here for a few weeks is a good one.

Hopefully the 501st isn’t sent on any long campaigns - it’d be a shame, and a waste.

“So the barracks, then?” she asks, as Rex gets into the passenger’s side of the speeder and she starts its engine.

“Sure thing,” he says, as cheerful as she’s ever heard him, and she grins and pulls away from the curb.

It’s not a long drive from Dex’s to the barracks, and Ahsoka takes it slower (or at least, more slowly than Anakin’s usual _drive it like you stole it from the clankers),_ because it’s nice outside today and she’s in a good mood. Bypasses the 501st’s barracks and parks outside the 212th’s, hops out and says, “Cody’s probably either doing paperwork or running sims, so I guess we’ll have to ask the boys where he’s at.”

“Okay,” Rex says, sounds a little bit unsure, and she gives him a reassuring smile before stepping into the barracks. He reaches into the back of the speeder, grabs a bag out to sling over his shoulder before following her.

There are a few men sprawled out on bunks, about six of them in a corner playing what looks like sabaac, and Click and Hang-up are playing dejarik - from the looks of things, Hang-up is losing pretty badly. She goes over to them, figures _one_ of them will probably know where Cody is. “Hey, Hang-up, Click,” she says, “do either of you know where Cody is?”

“Hey, Commander,” Hang-up says brightly, “don’t suppose you’d give me some advice?” He gestures at the dejarik game meaningfully, and Ahsoka laughs.

“Would it really help?”

He shakes his head, almost mournfully. “No,” he admits. “It’s still fun, though.”

She grins, pats his shoulder commiseratingly, says, “I take it that’s a no on Cody?”

“I think he’s in his office working on reports,” Click says, making a move on the game board. “Hey, _vod,”_ he adds, looking up at Rex.

“Hey,” Rex says, nodding at Click.

“Thanks,” Ahsoka says. “Good luck, Hang-up.”

Hang-up sighs dolefully. “I don’t think the Force wants me to win at dejarik, Commander.”

Ahsoka laughs as she walks through the rows of bunks, shaking her head. Hang-up’s a good Lieutenant, but dejarik is _definitely_ not where his skills lie. She exchanges a few quietly cheerful greetings with some of the clones as she passes them, heads for the hallway that leads to the training rooms, the 501st’s barracks, a communal mess, and the offices. There’s also a couple private rooms that the officers can use (very few choose to use them, at least among the clone officers) - she expects that’s where Rex’ll be staying while he’s onworld. She ignores most of the rooms, makes for Cody’s office, knocks on the door.

“Come in,” Cody calls, and Ahsoka grins over her shoulder at Rex and then opens the door and steps through.

“Hey, Cody, thought I’d let you know Rex is here,” she says, lightly.

Cody looks up from his datapad, casually, then catches sight of Rex and puts the datapad down, standing up just a bit too fast to be nonchalant. _“Ori’vod,”_ he says, walks around his desk (Ahsoka moves out of the way, quickly, smiling to herself) so he can pull Rex into a tight hug, pressing their foreheads together.

“Hey, Codes,” Rex says, grins first at Cody and then at Ahsoka herself. He looks so _relaxed,_ warm and happy, and Ahsoka can’t help smiling back at him. It’s so good to see him happy, especially after all the time she’s seen him angry and hurting.

Maybe things are finally getting better for all of them.

~~~

Although there are things that are uncomfortable, still, about seeing Cody, Rex thinks that it’s still one of the better things to happen to him, lately, to have reached his _ori’vod_ again - and he’s not unaware of the fact that it’s mostly due to Ahsoka that he was able to. It makes him happy, being with both of them - and there’s a kind of safety in having Ahsoka around when he’s talking to Cody. Keeps it from being too obvious, how much has changed.

“We just got breakfast,” Rex says, cheerfully, “at that diner, Dex’s. It was great.”

“And you didn’t tell me you were here till _now,”_ Cody says, not so cheerfully. “You _little shit._ And you,” he adds, pointing at Ahsoka with a small, un-meaning scowl, “are no better.”

“C’mon, Cody, you know how you feel about Dex’s,” Ahsoka says brightly, earning a wrinkled nose and a scoff from Cody, “I didn’t want to subject you to the _horror_ of unabashed cheerfulness.”

“And yet here you are in my office,” Cody says, dryly, and Rex laughs, ignoring Ahsoka’s unimpressed raised eyebrows.

“Would you prefer I didn’t bring you your _ori’vod_ and left you to sulk?” she suggests, and Cody rolls his eyes and settles back against his desk, shaking his head.

“As I said,” he sighs, “you’re a little shit, _vod’ika.”_

The word startles Rex, for a second, and he shifts a little, passing his bag from hand to hand. He doesn’t know why he’s surprised, after everything he’s heard about Cody teaching Ahsoka and everything else.

His brothers, him included, always protect their _vod’ike,_ it’s just the way things are, and for a minute Rex considers the possibility that framing Ahsoka is going to mean he loses his _ori’vod,_ that Cody would side with Ahsoka in all this, and all of a sudden he’s just _cold._ (He should’ve thought of it before, really, but he’s been _thinking_ as little as possible.)

“You’re always so nice, Cody,” Ahsoka teases, and Rex forces a smile and a chuckle.

“Isn’t he? You have a point, Tano, maybe we should’ve just not come up here,” Rex says, consideringly, and Cody _glares_ at him, disapproving.

“Don’t worry, Cody,” Ahsoka says, smooth, _“I_ appreciate you.”

 _“You,”_ Cody answers, “are full of _osik.”_

Rex manages to laugh at that, properly, shakes his head and settles his free hand on his belt. He thinks he cares too much about these two people. (It’s distracting.)

“Who, me?” Ahsoka smirks, not even really _trying_ to look innocent.

“Yes, you.” Rex elbows her, rolling his eyes. “Very much so.”

She punches his shoulder, which he can’t really feel through the armor. “Shut up, Rexter. I wasn’t asking you.”

“And yet he answered,” Cody says, wryly, and straightens up to go around to the other side of his desk. “I’m gonna catch up with you in a while, Rex - right now I’ve got paperwork. I’m sure you remember what that’s like.”

“It’s why I left,” Rex jokes, and _instantly_ regrets it - there’s only a brief second of awkwardness, though, before Cody snorts and sits down, picking up his datapad.

“No surprise. Both you shits need to get out of my hair, this needs done and you’re not good for focus.”

“Yes, sir,” Rex says, sarcastically, eliciting laughs from both Cody and Ahsoka, although Cody pretends to look disapproving. Then, because they are helpful and _not_ little shits, Rex and Ahsoka leave Cody to his paperwork.

Rex doesn’t miss paperwork. At all. It was always a nightmare.

“So while we wait for Cody to finish being a _responsible_ sentient, why don’t I introduce you to the wonder of the universe that is Hero With No Fear?” Ahsoka suggests as they walk back down the hall, grinning.

“Is that the holodrama you mentioned?” Rex asks, wryly.

“The one and only.”

With an overdramatic sigh, Rex says, “Okay,” and follows Ahsoka to a room where she hits a button to open the door, hurries in and plops down to sit on the bed. It’s a sparsely furnished room - the hard-looking bed and a desk with a chair and a _tiny_ closet. Rex assumes this is where he’s staying, and sets his bag of things by the desk, then goes to sit by Ahsoka, who pulls out a datapad and shifts around to get comfortable, fiddling with the screen and smiling the whole time.

She’s adorable.

And he doesn’t know what he’s doing.

She starts chatting on about the show again, picks an episode which she says is _the best one_ (great), and he scoots closer so he has a better view of the screen and leans back on his hands, trying to dismiss his concerns in favor of enjoying a shitty holodrama and Ahsoka’s company. (It’s a wasted effort.)

~~~

The episode of Hero With No Fear Ahsoka decides to show Rex first is the one about the Blue Shadow Virus, which features a very stereotypical holodrama-villain, overly-muscled Anakin fighting droids while sick, and blue Ahsoka generally being a badass. As per usual. “This is the best episode, but after we watch it I’ll show you the _second-best_ one, which involves Anakin explaining to me why he and Obi-Wan can’t _give into their emotions,”_ she says, grinning. “It’s very fascinating, and I can tease _both_ my Masters.”

She taps the screen, brings up the episode, and Rex says, “Sounds _great,”_ very wry.

“It _is,”_ she says, completely serious, and hits play.

From the moment the opening bars of the theme song play, she can tell Rex is probably regretting his decision - she takes it easy on him, _doesn’t_ sing along with the theme song, even though she _could._ Instead, she just scoots a bit closer to Rex so they can both see the screen, gives him a brief explanation of some of the _context_ for the episode (context is, after all, very important) before it begins in earnest.

She laughs at the _emotional_ goodbye Anakin records after he gets infected with the virus, compares Rex to the clone clearly being played by a Twi’lek, and smirks at him when he gives her a grumpy look. He _is_ amused by the show, though, she can _tell,_ so she’s smug about it. “I told you it’s great,” she says, during a lull in the action.

“It’s _stupid,”_ he says, but he’s grinning a bit, so she doesn’t really believe him.

“That’s what’s so great about it,” she says.

Some halfway through the episode, she feels Rex shifting beside her, and a minute later he settles his arm around her shoulder; she smiles to herself, scoots a bit closer and leans into his side, tucking her feet up under her. This is good. His arm around her feels secure, reassuring, a comforting weight over her shoulders, and she soaks up that warmth, tilts her head into his shoulder a bit.

When the episode is over, she scrolls to another one, says, lightly, “You’ll appreciate the wealth of jokes you can make against Anakin after you watch this one.” _Anakin_ won’t appreciate it, but really, that’s part of the fun.

“I’m sure I will,” Rex says, laughing, and Ahsoka huffs a laugh of her own, tucks herself a bit more into his side (so she’s more comfortable, of course), tilts her head so she can grin up at him.

“I’m glad you came to visit,” she says, softer than she means to, and she has to look away, quickly.

He tightens his arm around her, says, “Yeah,” quietly, and she smiles, doesn’t look back up at him.

Just shifts so she’s curled more comfortably into his side, head on his shoulder, and starts the next episode of the show.

This is good, right now. She’s finally feeling some of the _peace_ that’s been missing since she came back from Onderon.

~~~

Rex is a little afraid to move, for a moment, because somehow he feels as if at any moment Ahsoka will just _know_ what he’s thinking - that something he does or says is going to give it away, and he’s very aware of the duplicitousness of what he’s doing right now. But there’s not much he can do about it, now - if he doesn’t want her to figure out something’s wrong, he has to act normal, but that’s just going to make everything worse, eventually.

This doesn’t feel like a good idea. He _knows_ he has good reasons, he’s thought about this for a long time and he’s not derailing his plans for a _jetii_ he ran into a couple months ago. It’s not easy or comfortable, but then nothing else he’s ever done has been either. He’s used to it. He might not _like_ it, but that doesn’t really _matter,_ does it?

Something happens in the episode that makes Ahsoka laugh, and Rex focuses on the datapad screen belatedly and chuckles, automatically - he missed whatever it was that was funny, but Ahsoka doesn’t seem to notice, just adjusts her head on his shoulder (he doesn’t think she’s probably very comfortable, since he’s still in all his armor) and settles, grinning.

Rex shivers a little and just tries to watch the episode. And it _is_ funny, there’s this whole dramatic series of shots of “Kenobi” and “Skywalker” staring at each other and, like Ahsoka told him, this very serious discussion between “her” character and “Skywalker” about why love is bad. Even Rex could have given the show writers a better idea of why _jetiise_ don’t do attachment, so it’s entertaining to hear what are clearly their _speculations_ about the issue.

Attachment (Galina said, repeatedly) to any one person led to prioritizing their needs over the needs of the group - “purpose must come before feelings.”

That’s the idea, anyway.

The episode fumbles out something about Jedi living lives of selflessness and self-denial (not true, although Galina had claimed to find both concepts important) - the long and short of their reasoning seems to be that _jetiise_ need to suffer to use the Force.

It’s an attempt, which Rex thinks is pretty funny, and which Ahsoka apparently thinks is _hilarious._ The episode ends with a lot of dramatic music and some more close-ups of sad looks on both “Skywalker” and “Kenobi’s” faces.

“So there’s an episode where they do get together, right?” Rex asks, during the credits, very wry.

“Not _yet,”_ Ahsoka sighs, rolling her eyes. “They’re dragging this plot out, but we _did_ get a very dramatic almost-kiss after a near death experience for both of them!”

 _“Wonderful,”_ Rex says. He chuckles a little, because really this whole holodrama seems hilarious, and holos in general are amusing. “You’re gonna have to-” He stops, shrugs, grins awkwardly.

“Gonna have to what?” she asks, cheekily, tilting her head to grin at him.

He snorts a little, shifts. “Gonna have to keep me updated on the show, is all,” he says. Feels shit about it.

She laughs at him. “Of course I will,” she promises, and he snorts and pulls his arm from around her as she turns her datapad off. He pretends not to notice that that seems to disappoint her.

He leans back on his hands, and she sighs and scoots back so she can lean against the wall, stretching her legs out in front of her. “I’ve got some reports to do,” she says, and Rex nods, gets off the bed to pull off his armor, now that he’s away from places where that would be conspicuous. Years of habit have him stacking it neatly, in order, easily accessible on the desk. Then he opens his bag of things and digs out his datapad, so he can do some work of his own.

When he sits back down and leans more comfortably against the headboard of the bed, Ahsoka sort of shifts around so she can flop down on her back and kick her legs over the edge of the mattress, and Rex makes a face at her as he powers up his datapad. Unlike her, he has no reports or paperwork to do - just a couple inventory updates, which he keeps for his own personal records of what they have in his camp; and then his daily perusal of the holonet. Of course, most of the things he’d do on Kiros, he can’t do here, so on top of everything else, he realizes that he’ll have little else to occupy him here besides being with Ahsoka, Cody, or Offee.

He didn’t think about any of this.

He grits his teeth and stabs viciously at the datapad screen, goes on the holonet for the news, checks his secure GAR channels for chatter (he’ll be able to send updates to Jet to look into any distress calls he sees while he’s gone, because he gets different channels than Jet), and makes note of a couple small news reports about protests around Coruscant, on some other Core worlds. They’re short columns of story, barely notable - but he frowns at them anyway. Core-world anti-war protestors. That’s a new one.

Maybe this really _is_ going to work, do something. If the war is _already_ tiring out these people who it barely effects - when he and Offee bring it to their front door, they’ll be _furious._

Good.

He sighs, slowly, and starts calmly going through his inventory lists, breaths and movements measured.

~~~

Ahsoka would rather not be spending her time with Rex (what little of it she has) working on reports, but apparently when Jesse did inventory the armory was short on grenades, and apparently they need more blasters, and Anakin _hates_ reading through and signing off on requisition forms, so Jesse’s taken to just sending them straight to her. Still, it has to be done, so she scans the forms, signs them, and sends them off to the GAR, then stretches and turns her datapad off.

“I’m going to go to the barracks,” she says, casually. “You should come - I know Echo’s been looking forward to seeing you.”

“Okay,” Rex says, relaxed. “I might’ve missed him, a little.”

 _“Might’ve?”_ she asks, teasingly, rolls off the bed and pushes herself to her feet, tucking her datapad away. “That’s real touching, Rex.”

“Shut up,” he grumbles, putting his datapad away and getting up, going over to his armor and starting to put it back on.

“You know,” she says, “I think this is the most I’ve seen you in your armor.”

“Yeah, because here if I don’t wear it, there’s something off about me.” He seals on his bracers, moves to the rest of his arms, and she watches, slightly fascinated by the whole process.

“Fair,” she says, “but we’re just going to the 501st’s barracks,” and she gestures vaguely at the door. “So it’s not like they don’t already know you aren’t… exactly supposed to be here.”

“This is all GAR-owned property. I’d rather be cautious.”

She shrugs one shoulder, nods. “Sure. Although we’re on leave, so most of the boys will have their armor pretty much off, if that makes a difference.” Not that _she_ cares if he wears his armor or not.

Rex shakes his head, narrowing his eyes at gloves and gauntlets as he tugs them on - she can’t help but be disappointed, slightly, by the response. “I’d rather just have it.”

Ahsoka nods, idly picks her shoto up off her belt and tosses it in the air, catches it in one hand. Waits until Rex grabs his helmet off the desk before she pushes off where she’s been leaning on the bed, watching him, and starts for the door, stretching a bit before hooking her saber back on her belt. “Fives and Jesse should be nice, but if they’re getting too aggressive, let me know and I’ll talk to them,” she says, stepping through the door and starting down the hallway.

“Thanks,” he says, very wry. “But I think I can handle a couple of _vod’ike_ just fine.”

She rolls her eyes. “That’s not the point,” she mutters. “I would rather _not_ start any fights.”

“So then we won’t start any,” he says, smiling just a little.

She can’t help grinning back. “I didn’t say _we,”_ she says, fighting back a laugh. “I’m not the troublemaker in this relationship, you know.”

“No, you’re really not,” he says, dust-dry, and there’s something in his tone she can’t quite place, but it makes her sober, look at him for a minute, furrowing her brow.

He doesn’t say anything else, though, so she looks away, shrugs. “I told them all to behave, anyway, and they mostly listen to me, so…”

He laughs. “Then I should be fine, right?”

“Probably, yeah,” she agrees, shoots him a smile before pushing open the barracks’ door. Predictably, there’s a rush of sound - it looks like there’s some kind of high-stakes sabaac game going on in the center of the barracks, and half the bunks have been haphazardly shoved out of the way to make room for tables and chairs. Ahsoka rolls her eyes, smiling, decides not to announce her arrival - she’s _curious_ what the betting pool is, and why everyone seems so invested.

Besides, they’re all so engrossed she doesn’t even think they’ve noticed her entrance.

~~~

Rex likes the barracks, for the most part. All these brothers, lounging around, comfortable (apparently heading towards _drunk),_ having a good time and not bothering about war, not minding that Ahsoka just came in (those few that notice her), passing flasks back and forth. The two of them go over to the main crowd of _vode,_ by Echo, who’s relaxed against a bunk a little back from everyone - he looks at them, grins, and steps over to give Rex a hug and then press a canteen into his hand. _“Have some moonshine, huh, vod?”_ he says, in Mando’a, then salutes to Ahsoka with a smile. He seems more comfortable here than he did in Rex’s camp, which is good.

“What’s going on?” Ahsoka asks, and Echo nods at the sabacc game.

“They’ve been at this for a while. Fives is losing, Tup’s trying to convince everyone he has a winning hand, and Etch will win if he stays in. Which is unlikely.” Rex can tell everyone else is playing some kind of drinking game - but strictly speaking, alcohol is not permitted in the barracks. Rex’s old _vode_ had all kinds of ways to hide their drinks from Galina, to the point that it became almost a science; clearly that’s not much of a concern with Ahsoka.

“What’s in the betting pool?” Ahsoka asks, amusedly. _“Something_ big must be in there, with how much excitement I sense.”

Echo hums a little and shrugs, evasive. “Something Tup had. He was doing good so they got him to bet a- personal item.”

Rex raises his eyebrows.

So does Ahsoka. “That wouldn’t happen to be the last bottle of Hardcase’s moonshine, which you definitely aren’t keeping in the barracks against regs, right?” she asks, lightly. Rex snorts.

“No, of course not, sir,” Echo says, equally light, glancing over at the sabacc table.

Ahsoka laughs, genuinely. “That’s what I thought.”

Rex looks over at the ongoing game - he’s good at sabacc, personally. Before they had to evacuate the old camp on Viridian, they’d had the cards for it, played fairly often. Fives, it appears, is not good at sabacc - or else his strategy is just to pretend to have a terrible sabacc face. Considering Echo said he’s losing, Rex is guessing it’s the former.

As the game goes on, and Rex quietly passes the canteen of moonshine back and forth with Echo (who’s not playing the drinking game that everyone else is), more _vode_ notice them, which results in a couple drunk telling-offs for Rex, because you know what, _vod,_ the Commander and Lieutenant Echo said to keep this to myself, but _kriff that -_ you’re a _hutuun’la chakaar_ and you shouldn’t be here.

Rex mostly just nods politely at all of them until Ahsoka and Echo convince them to take their complaints elsewhere. Someone calls him a _demagolka_ and gets a chewing-out from Echo in Mando’a. Rex thinks Echo shouldn’t spend so much energy disputing relatively accurate labels thrown around by drunk _vode,_ but he can do what he wants.

After a while, Etch folds, marches off grumbling, and then somewhere in the middle of a conversation that Rex is having with Echo about Kiros, there’s an eruption of cheering and grumbling, in equal parts, and Tup and Fives stand up from the sabacc table. It’s very obvious who won - Tup is grinning, collecting a pile of credit chips and a suspect bottle, and Fives glowers and marches over towards Echo.

His mood evidently does _not_ improve upon spotting Rex.

Rex can tell, because Fives’ sabacc face is terrible, and Fives’ eyes narrow and he curls his lip in a sneer, which are usually signs of displeasure.

It’s also telling that Fives looks at Ahsoka and grumbles, “So _he’s_ here now, apparently.”

Rex feels loved.

“Yes _he_ is,” he says, mildly, smiling a bit. “Good to see you too, _vod.”_

“Kriff off,” Fives answers, generously.

Ahsoka rolls her eyes, irritated, and says, “You knew this was happening, Fives. Don’t be pissy just because you lost Hardcase’s moonshine.”

“That is not what we were playing for,” Fives says, somewhat automatically, scowling. “And I’m not being _pissy,_ sir.”

As he says this, the very patriotic _vod,_ Captain Jesse, strides over with his hands behind his back in parade rest, in just his lower body armor and blacks and a very determined expression.

“Commander,” he says, nodding, smiling a little, and then he turns to look at Rex. Rex sighs. Jesse isn’t smiling any more, go figure. _“You._ You and I need to have a talk.”

Oh, _wonderful._ Rex hasn’t been told off by this many _vode_ in his life before - he’s starting to wonder if he’s breaking some sort of record in the GAR. “Go for it, _vod,”_ he says, lightly.

“No, I mean you’re coming with me, and we’re having a discussion,” Jesse says, and Rex reevaluates the situation and decides to take it more seriously.

“Alright,” he says. Ignores Ahsoka’s long-suffering and disapproving sigh, rests his hands on his gunbelt and follows Jesse a little away from everyone else, not entirely sure what he should expect.

Jesse stops by an unoccupied bunk and leans against it, arms crossed, eyes very sharp and focused. “I was surprised she invited you here,” he says, without preamble, shortly. “And that she wanted to go visit you on Kiros.” Rex nods. Frankly, he was surprised she did, too. “For whatever reason, _verd,_ she thinks you’re pretty great, and she trusts you.” Jesse pauses. “I don’t.”

Rex meets his eyes, nods just slightly. Fair enough - and really, Jesse’s right not to trust him. Jesse’s wiser than Ahsoka, in that.

“I don’t know what any of this is about for you,” Jesse says, gesturing around them, “but if you screw over my Commander, like you did Commander Cody, I’m going to kill you.” His voice is flat, loaded with warning. Rex stifles of a flare of indignance, swallows a little. “My _vod’ika_ sees the best in everyone. That works fine for her, but I’m not giving you the benefit of the doubt. We clear, _vod?”_ The last word is sardonic, sharp.

Rex nods. “Yeah, Captain,” he says, seriously, tired. “We’re clear.”

“Alright.” Jesse nods, tersely, and starts back over towards the little group of _vode_ and Ahsoka - Rex follows almost automatically. It was a shit move of Jesse, to bring up Cody, but a calculated one. As hurt as Cody was (still is) because of him disappearing for three years, what this’ll do to Ahsoka… that’s worse. Rex is pretty sure.

He doesn’t really want to do this again.

~~~

Fives is being _exceedingly_ grumpy today, Ahsoka notices, although she’s mostly tuning him out to keep an eye on Rex and Jesse - she’s not sure what Jesse wanted to talk to Rex about, but he’s _serious,_ and with the amount of alcohol she’s seen lying around (a bit more openly than they really _should,_ just in case someone who isn’t her or Anakin or another trooper walks in), she’s afraid this conversation could go south in a hurry. And regardless of how confident Rex seems in his ability to _handle_ her battalion, there’ve been an awful lot of irate troopers over here already.

“Planetside to Commander Tano,” Fives says, waving his hand in front of her face, and she jumps, turns to give him a _look._

“Are you done complaining yet?” she asks, grumbling. “If not, I’m gonna go back to ignoring you.”

“And staring at _him,”_ Fives mutters, swears when Echo punches his shoulder.

“I’m worried about Jesse being an asshole,” Ahsoka says, seriously. “If I’d known you were all going to be varying levels of halfway to wasted, I wouldn’t have brought him to the barracks. Honestly, he’s a brother, why are you so _hostile?”_

She hadn’t even realized it upset her until the question slipped out.

Fives goes quiet, for a minute, and then rubs at his face, swearing a bit to himself. “We just- don’t trust him, sir, and we want to protect you-”

She cuts him off there. “This has gone _way_ past protective, Fives, you’re all kind of being _assholes._ I heard Jek call him a _coward_ earlier, and that’s uncalled for.”

Fives hesitates, then says, carefully, “He left the war, sir. To most of us, that makes him-”

“Stop,” Ahsoka says, quiet, and Fives - to his credit - goes silent _immediately._ “None of you know what he’s been through - and _yes,_ I do, because I _asked,”_ she adds, when she sees Fives’ face change a bit, like he’s going to interrupt. “Calling him a coward is _ridiculous,_ it’s rude, and I expect better from you. _All_ of you.” She pauses, then swallows, silently hopes Rex won’t be _angry_ at her for this, and says, “Rex left the war because early on, his Jedi General abandoned his battalion to the Separatists. He saved _ten men.”_ She gives Fives a second to process that, sees something stricken in his eyes, crosses her arms. “I don’t expect you all to _like_ him, Fives. But I _do_ expect common _courtesy,_ and I _won’t_ tolerate anyone calling him a _coward_ when that is the _furthest_ thing from the truth. Are we clear?”

Fives nods, swallowing. “Yes, sir,” he says, slowly, looks over at Echo. Says, softly, _“Ori’vod,_ why didn’t you _say anything?”_

Echo shifts, grimacing a bit. “I tried,” he says, quietly, looks down at his feet. “You didn’t want to listen.”

Ahsoka can _see_ the statement hit Fives - he sucks in a sharp breath, closes his eyes, swallows _hard._ “Yeah,” he rasps, “I guess I didn’t. I-” He pauses. “I’ll go talk to them, Commander.”

“Thank you,” she says, softens a bit.

Fives just nods, runs his fingers through his hair nervously, and turns and strides off.

“What the hells just happened?” Jesse asks, casually wandering over, and Ahsoka turns around.

Drops her arms to her sides and tucks them behind her back, says, “I made a point. You done getting bitchy at Rex?” If she’s a little sharper than she should be, well… she has a reason for it.

“I wasn’t being rude,” Jesse says, frowning. “He and I needed to talk about something. So we did. Should I go ask Fives if I want to get a _straight_ answer on what just happened?”

Ahsoka considers, for a moment, then nods. “Why don’t you do that,” she says, gestures with one hand before tucking it back behind her again.

Jesse gives her a confused look, but he nods and wanders off again, and Ahsoka sighs, straightens her shoulders and looks over at Rex, who’s just walked the rest of the way up to them.

She hopes maybe this will _finally_ make a difference.

~~~

Rex looks between Echo, who looks vaguely smug and a little sheepish, and Ahsoka, who looks like she’s in the mood to fight anyone who disagrees with her, including him, and decides he definitely missed a lot. Probably something to do with him, if what she’s already said is any indication. “What just happened?” he asks, raising an eyebrow and crossing his arms.

Ahsoka sighs, wincing a little, and says, “Please don’t be mad at me.” Which isn’t promising, but Rex just gives her a _look_ and waits. She rubs her hand over her face, gestures vaguely in the direction Fives and Jesse both went. “Fives was being rude and justifying the men calling you a coward, so I… told him why you left.”

“Ah,” Rex says, slightly surprised, unsure how he feels about that for a moment. He would not have chosen to tell Fives about anything that went on before he left the army, but then he doesn’t really care what Fives thinks about him - or any of them, for that matter.

Apparently, Ahsoka does.

“No harm done, Tano,” he says, sighing and lifting his shoulders in a careless shrug. “It’s all in my file, anyway.” Most of it, that is.

She sighs again. “I told him I won’t tolerate them insulting you to your face, and that I expect them to at least be courteous.”

Rex bites back another protest that he doesn’t _mind,_ he can _handle it,_ and just nods. “Okay. Thanks, I guess.”

Ahsoka sits down on the bunk behind her, leans over and rests her forearms on her knees. “I don’t understand why they’re being like this,” she says, softly.

Rex looks at Echo, who smiles wryly, then back at Ahsoka and says, slightly amused, “Well, you know I _did_ kidnap you, Tano. Kidnapping somebody’s _vod’ika_ isn’t really what you’d call acceptable behavior.”

She shrugs, and he frowns a little and sits down by her. “Yeah,” she says, “and I understand that, but they’ve all _shown_ their displeasure, and they’re being _assholes,_ and you’re my- friend.”

Rex nudges her a little so she looks at him, smiles a bit when she does. “Well, I’m _fine,”_ he says, seriously, “and I’m sure you got your point across. You can be bossy, you know.”

She leans against him, some, lips twitching in a half-smile. “I know I did, Fives looked- horrified, honestly.”

“That’s me,” Rex says, dryly, “horrifying.”

“Shut _up,”_ she tells him, laughing, elbowing him. She adds something, muttering under his breath, which he is _pretty sure_ he mishears, but it sounds like she says, “You’re too pretty to be horrifying.” Which definitely makes no sense.

He clears his throat a little, narrows his eyes at her appraisingly, and grumbles, “I don’t even know how to take that, Ahsoka Tano.”

She turns rust-colored, shrugs and looks down. “Take it as it’s intended: a compliment.”

He laughs a little, grins at her. “Alright then, thank you. But I should let you know that you’re the _actual_ pretty one here.” He hears a scoffing noise from Echo and looks over to see that his _vod’ika_ has marched off, chooses to ignore that. “You can find my face anywhere. Yours is pretty damn special.”

She just blushes, over most of her face and, curiously enough, her montrals. That’s a new one. Rex grins to himself, a little. After a second of awkwardly staring at the floor, she fumbles, “Well, I like _your_ face, not theirs,” she says, with a loose gesture around the barracks. “There _is_ a difference.”

Rex looks away, a touch sheepish - she’s just saying that, not like she can really _tell._ “Flatterer,” he huffs, trying to sound grumpy. “It’s the blond hair, isn’t it. Told you it was an advantage.”

Ahsoka looks over at him, looking kind of thoughtful, brow furrowed. “It’s your eyes,” she says, and Rex pauses, feels suddenly uncertain.

She looks down, quickly, and all Rex can think to say is, “Really?” awkwardly, then kicks himself furiously as soon as he’s said it. _Dumbass._ He drops his eyes to the floor and grimaces, running a hand over his face. Hells, he sounds like a _shiny._

“Yeah,” she says, and he glances back over at her, sees she’s blushing still.

So he smiles, a little, says, “Well alright then, Tano. Thanks.” He doesn’t even know why he’s surprised by anything she says anymore - the only thing he can count on from her is that she keeps upsetting his expectations.

Ahsoka glances quickly at him, a bit appraising, then says, all in a rush, “They’re just- different, the expressions and stuff, and I- like them.” Rex finds himself grinning, surprised _again._ She looks away, shifting a bit, and adds, “You all look and feel different, you know, it’s not just the hair. Although…” Straightening, she purses her lips a little, says, “I do like the blond,” and, smiling, reaches up to scuff her fingers lightly over his hair, making him chuckle.

“Well, while we’re being honest,” he says, casually, smirking a little, “I like these markings of yours.” He’s careful, telegraphed, but he reaches up to brush his fingers teasingly over the white shape on her cheekbone. She tilts his head slightly towards his hand, so he smiles a little and pulls his hand back, considering.

Ahsoka turns a little, so she’s facing him more, meets his eyes, and he thinks _what the hells._ Reaches up again, cups her jaw in his hand, waits just a second to make sure she’s okay, then leans in and kisses her, just light and quick, leans back again.

She raises an eyebrow at him, almost _disapproving,_ and tells him, “That wasn’t even a proper kiss,” then tugs on his shoulder so he leans down and kisses him harder - she’s right, this is better. He slips an arm around her waist, and unbidden and unwelcome comes the thought that he can’t do this, that he’s going to be ruining _this person’s_ life, so-

He shoves the thought away. He can have this, and anyway, he hasn’t given the nanodroids to Barriss yet. He can change his mind, they’ll come up with something else, and then he can still have Ahsoka.

Rex pulls away from the kiss to catch his breath, rests his forehead against Ahsoka’s, and smiles.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> MANDO'A TRANSLATIONS:
> 
> hutuun'la: cowardly
> 
> demagolka: war criminal (the word comes from the name of a horrible, cruel figure in Mandalorian history and is a serious insult)
> 
> verd: soldier


	17. Chapter 17

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry it's been a while! We're still here.
> 
> skywalking_across_the_galaxy is working a lot and I have a ton of homework, so we're not gonna be super prolific right now. We're still here though!
> 
> Drop us some comments. :)

Ahsoka leans into Rex’s hand on her cheek, closes her eyes and tries to catch her breath, slides her hand from his hair (and when did that happen?) to rest on his shoulder. Says, after a moment, “Well, that was- something.” She’s not even sure how to describe it.

Definitely  _ good. _

“Flattering, thank you,” he says, wryly, and she can practically  _ hear _ his smile. 

She laughs, says, “I’m sure everyone has some very interesting faces on right now,” amused.  _ “But,” _ she adds, lowers her voice a bit, conspiratorial, “I’d rather look at yours.”

“Dork,” he says, fondly.

“Dumbass,” she returns, and pulls back from him a bit so she can grin at him, although she’s careful not to dislodge his arm from around her waist. “Want to go get some caf? The stuff in the mess is actually pretty good.”

Rex looks around the barracks, pointedly, and then says, “I like the way you think.”

So Ahsoka laughs and pushes herself off the bunk, offers him a hand off the bunk, grins when he takes it. Threads their fingers together before he has the chance to pull his hand back, smiles a bit wider and starts for the hallway. And if maybe she’s leaning against him a bit, well. Who could blame her?

“I thought it’d be a good idea to… avoid any possible confrontations,” she says, once they’ve left the barracks behind. “Also I want caf.”

“Very reasonable of you,” he says, amused, and then pauses. “I think Jesse might punch me.”

She shrugs. “I thought you said you could handle them,” she says, teasing, grins up at him - smirks, more like.

“I stand by that.” She raises an eyebrow, but he’s not done. “I just also think he might punch me.”

Ahsoka snorts and shakes her head, says, “He probably won’t, as long as I’m around. I managed to convince him not to punch  _ Lux, _ after all, so…” She stops, suddenly, considering, then blurts out, “I  _ knew _ you were jealous.”

Rex looks away, grumbling, says, “You were being insufferable.”

Ahsoka  _ pouts, _ leans into his space and looks up at him, says,  _ “Rex, _ that’s not very nice.”

“Neither is making people jealous,” he says.

She rolls her eyes. “How was I supposed to know it’d make you jealous?” she asks. “Besides, strictly speaking, it  _ did _ work.”

It wasn’t exactly her  _ plan, _ but hey. She’s not going to complain, that’s for sure.

Rex  _ laughs, _ shakes his head and says, “Fair enough,  _ cyar’ika.” _

The- nickname, term of endearment, whatever it is, rolls off his tongue naturally, and she smiles a bit softer, asks, “What’s  _ cyar’ika _ mean?”

“Sweetheart,” he says, chuckling a bit, and she leans into his side and smiles.

“I like it,” she says.

This- it’s good. Better than she could’ve hoped.

~~~

Rex hadn’t exactly  _ intended _ to call Ahsoka  _ cyar’ika, _ but he decides he doesn’t mind, anyway, so he says, “Well, good. You’re stuck with it.”

“Good,” she says, with a light laugh, and he rolls his eyes at her.

Just then, his comm pings a couple times, and, surprised, he answers it, walking a little slower. “Rex here. Kinda busy.”

_ “Hey, vod. It’s Turner.” _ His brother is speaking Mando’a, and Rex stops walking altogether, even though they’re almost to the mess - why the hells is Turner comming him?  _ “Just wanted to know what the actual hells you’re doing?” _

_ “Vod, _ are you drunk?” Rex sighs, rubbing his face and shrugging expressively at Ahsoka. “I’m on  _ Coruscant,  _ what do you even  _ want?” _

_ “I  _ **_want_ ** _ to know what you’re doing running off to Coruscant and kissing jetiise,” _ Turner snaps, irritated, and Rex blinks.  _ “I didn’t think this was a good idea to begin with and now you’re, what, selling out? What’re you gonna do, go back to the war?” _

“First of all,” Rex says, a bit annoyed, “how the kriff did you even know I-” He glances at Ahsoka, clears his throat and switches to Mando’a,  _ “kissed her, Turner, I’m  _ **_on kriffing Coruscant.”_ **

_ “One of her men commed Brii.” _

_ “Oh.” _ Rex nods, chuckling.  _ “Makes sense.” _

_ “Yeah, vod, so what the fekking hells?” _

_ “Well,” _ Rex says, deadpan, flat,  _ “sometimes, Turner, when two sentients like each other, they kiss. Calm the kriff down.” _

_ “She’s a  _ **_jetii,_ ** _ dumbass.” _ Turner sounds like he would prefer to have heard that Rex kissed a sea slug.

_ “‘Lek, so how did you get from there to thinking I was gonna fekking abandon you all?” _ Rex says, irritably.  _ “Why are you even comming me about this, it’s not your business.” _

_ “It is my fekking business, you’re gonna get screwed over  _ **_again_ ** _ because you apparently forgot everything that went wrong last time you fekking trusted the jetiise. Just because you, what’d you say,  _ **_like_ ** _ this particular one. She’s not different, mir’osik.” _

Rex rubs his face, irritation turning to genuine frustration.  _ “Turner. Ne’johaa. You know that’s a bunch of banthashit.” _

“Is this about me kissing Rex?” Ahsoka asks, suddenly, casually, and Turner lets loose with a string of colorful curses aimed at no one in particular, very sharp.

_ “Why the hells didn’t you tell me she was listening?”  _ he growls, then, in Basic, “Kriff you,  _ jetii. _ This isn’t your conversation.”

Rex sighs and disconnects the comm. “Sorry, Ahsoka,” he sighs, tiredly. “He just- does this.”

She smiles a little. “It’s okay, Rex, I know most of them still don’t like me.”

“I know,” he says. “That doesn’t mean Turner can just comm me to yell about it.” Jet, at least, seems to have some measure of respect for Ahsoka. Turner, apparently, doesn’t share any such sentiment. Rex thinks Turner and Jesse are very similar. And would hate each other.

She grins a little, goes up on her toes and puts a hand on his shoulder to kiss his cheek. “Well, I forgive him,” she says, and Rex goes a little red.

“Shut up, you nerd,” he huffs, elbowing her a bit and starting for the mess again. There’s an uneasy feeling in his stomach, but he reminds himself it’s okay. He just has to tell Barriss they need to do something else. They can get their plan done some other way, and it’ll be fine, and  _ Ahsoka  _ will be fine.

“Make me,” she tells him, teasingly, eyes sparkling, and he raises his eyebrows.

“How about when we’re _not_ walking into a mess hall full of your brothers who already don’t like me,” Rex suggests, wryly, because they did, after all, commit to getting caf and he doesn’t want to piss off even _more_ _vode_ today.

As they come up to the door of the mess, and Ahsoka opens it, she says, “Spoilsport,” grumpily, almost pouting at him, and he chuckles.

“I’m here for a couple  _ weeks, _ Tano, we’ve got time.” Especially since he’s apparently not framing her in a massive explosion anymore.

Life is good, sometimes.

“That doesn’t change the fact that you’re a spoilsport,” she says, teasingly, raising an eyebrow at him.

He snorts, follows her over in the direction of the caf. “Don’t worry, I’ll make it up to you,” he says, casually.

“I’ll hold you to that,” she says, and he suspects she will. Wisely, then, she lets the subject drop and gets herself a mug of caf that’s not quite steaming hot. “Are you upset I told the battalion about your General?” she says, after a moment, scooping sugar into her caf.

Rex goes about filling his own cup, and thinks for a minute. He guesses he’s not, really. “Well, like I said, anyone could’ve found it out if they really wanted to. It’s fine.”

She nods a little. “Fair enough. I wouldn’t have said anything, but I- needed to make a point.” She sighs, some, adds milk to her drink and then gestures ahead of her at one of the tables, and they go to sit down.

“I know,” Rex says, finds he means that. “I understand it’s- important to you. That you want them to get it.” He didn’t like Turner talking shit about Ahsoka, either. Didn’t much like it even when he’d barely known her, he guesses.

She nods, sits down next to him and rests her forearms on the table, hands cupped around her mug. Rex watches her, thoughtful, rubbing his thumb over the warm side of his mug. “How’d your brothers even find out about-” and she stops, gestures vaguely between the two of them. Rex assumes she means the kissing, and chuckles a little.

“One of  _ your _ men told Brii,” he says, wryly. “So…”

She cringes, hard, although she’s smiling just a little and says, “I bet you it was Alpha, he wouldn’t even  _ think _ about the damage Brii could do.” She sounds amused.

“Well, they were gonna have to deal with it eventually,” Rex huffs, wryly. “Maybe by the time I go back they’ll be able to deal with it like adult sentients.” They better be. He  _ understands, _ of course, but it’s  _ Ahsoka, _ they all know her, and he can do what he fekking _ wants. _

Looking at you,  _ Turner,  _ you  _ mir’osik. _

~~~

Ahsoka takes a slow drink of her caf, says, thoughtfully, “Speaking of you going back,” pauses a minute. “What do you think will happen to… this?” She gestures between the two of them demonstratively with her mug, careful not to spill it.

Rex shrugs, says, a bit unsure, “I don’t know, I hadn’t- exactly thought about it, I guess.”

She _ suspects _ that despite the long planned stay, he hadn’t exactly expected  _ this _ to happen. “Well, like you said earlier,” she says, a bit wry, “we  _ do _ have time. It’s just something we better figure out.”

“Yeah, I feel okay about it,” he says, warm, and she smiles, leans her head into his shoulder.

“Me too,” she says, quiet, takes another drink of caf. “I think… I think this is good.” It  _ feels _ good, feels  _ right _ in the Force, and so much has been confused lately that she clings onto that certainty like a lifeline. “The Force has been so muddled, lately,” she tells Rex, staring at her caf, “but this feels- right.”

“Oh,” he says, tentative, and she shifts so she can smile up at him. “Well, that’s good.”

“Yeah,” she says, laughs a bit. “Yeah, it is.”

“Yeah,” Rex says. He pauses, hesitant, asks, “And is the Force usually- I don’t know, right about that sort of stuff?”

Ahsoka smiles, says, “As Jedi, we are taught to follow the will of the Force in everything, and this- it feels more like the will of the Force than anything has in a long time.”

He grins, teasingly, says, “Yep, that’s me. The fekking will of the Force.”

She  _ laughs, _ can’t help it, leans more into his side and shakes her head. “You’re ridiculous,” she says, warmly, smiling up at him.

“And horrifying,” he says. “Don’t forget the horrifying part.”

She just laughs harder,  _ amused, _ grinning so wide her cheeks ache. Considers trying to kiss him again, but with how hard she’s laughing and the angle they’re at, she doesn’t think it’d work too well. Which is a shame; he’s so much prettier when he’s grinning and warm. 

“It’s really that funny, huh?” he asks, amused, lips curling in a wider smile, and she shakes her head, tries to smother the laughter.

“You’re a dumbass,” she says fondly.

“You keep saying that, but I know what you  _ really _ think,” Rex says, elbowing her in the side, and she  _ grumbles, _ leans closer to him, smiling a bit.

“And what’s that?” she asks, raising an eyebrow.

“You think I’m a  _ pretty  _ dumbass,” he says, pointedly.

She smirks a bit, reaches up and taps his jaw, says, “Well, with a jawline like this, what do you expect?”

Rex looks confused, which is  _ adorable, _ and says, “Not that, Tano.”

“Mm,” she hums, amused, takes a drink of caf. “You’re adorable, Rex.”

_ “You _ make no sense,” he huffs, grumpy, and she rolls her eyes.

She hadn’t expected anything like this to happen, although from the moment Rex had commed her and said he was coming to Coruscant she’d hoped - but now that this is  _ real, _ she finds she doesn’t want to go back. 

She wishes he could stay.

But she decides not to think about that now; for now she has him, here with her, and she’s going to take advantage of that for as long as she can.

~~~

The rest of that day, and the next, are both very relaxed, although Rex is aware of a certain level of rising anxiety, because he’s meant to meet with Offee on his third day on Coruscant and give her the nanodroids. He doesn’t really intend to give her the droids except on the condition that they not frame Ahsoka, anymore - he can’t do that to her. It’d ruin her life.

On that third rotation, in the evening, Rex tells Ahsoka he’s going to go meet Cody at 79’s (which is a risky lie, but still) and leaves the barracks in his armor, with the plastoid container of nanodroids. His stomach is tangled up in knots, heavy, and he keeps telling himself this is fine. It’s not great, but it’s manageable. Ahsoka never even has to know he was part of this.

He meets Offee in a neat, bustling little cafe on a middle level of Coruscant, back in a booth in a corner. The customers all look a little too suspect, for a place this neat, which Rex guesses means it’s probably a front of some kind, which makes sense since he’s about to discuss plans to blow up a widely-known and revered establishment. Offee wouldn’t take him somewhere  _ reputable _ for a conversation like that.

They sit down, and he sets the container of droids next to him, gingerly, as if they might explode here and now. Offee folds her hands and sets them in front of her on the table. Her eyes are blue - a darker shade than Ahsoka’s, deep and sharp and calculating. Rex knows to be careful of her.

“So, Rex,” Offee says, smoothly, looking at him like she’s trying to figure him out. “How are you finding Coruscant?”

“I don’t like it,” he answers, short, getting a light laugh in response. It strikes him that Offee is ever-so-careful about how she’s perceived - the laugh isn’t real, he knows because her eyes are still too sharp.

She leans forward slightly. “No, I didn’t expect you would. You brought our droids?”

“Yeah.” Rex swallows a little, crosses his arms, and sighs. “But I wanna talk about our plan, Offee. I’m thinking there’s probably a better way to do it than framing Tano.”

Offee looks disappointed, for a moment, then her expression hardens into frustration. “Now is hardly the time to be changing the plan, Rex.”

“I don’t mean we have to change it a lot,” he says, shortly. “But maybe we just give the droids to Ao and get Tano not to go meet her. Or we just use someone else other than Tano to do the same thing.”

“We don’t have  _ time _ to adjust for that now, Rex,” Offee snaps. “We picked Ahsoka to frame because we  _ understand _ her, we can’t just replace that with any old person.”

“So we make Ao responsible for the whole thing on her own,” Rex insists, shrugging, serious. “I’m not framing Tano anymore, Offee.”

Offee’s face creases with narrow-eyed frustration and she shakes her head, her jaw visibly tensing. Somehow everything about the expression seems put-on, exaggerated, just as calculated as everything else. Not like Ahsoka and her ever-so-genuine attitude towards everything. “So you’re getting squeamish on me  _ now?” _ she snaps. “This is supposed to be for all of your brothers and all the people the Jedi have failed. I can’t believe you’re setting that aside because you’re a bit  _ uncomfortable.” _

Something about that puts Rex’s hackles up, and he tightens his arms across his chest and leans back against the booth. “She’s been hurt by this war too,” he says, tersely, “and no, I  _ don’t _ feel comfortable dismissing my- friendship with her over this.” He does not say that he thinks it’s farther than he’s willing to go. “We’ll  _ think of something else.” _

Offee’s eyes go harder, for a second, and she sighs, loudly, pinching the bridge of her nose and closing her eyes. Rex doesn’t move, or say anything else, or compromise, and she’s quiet for a second, apparently thinking. Then she straightens a little, shaking her head, and flattens her hands out over the table. “Fine. You might have a point, Rex - we’ll have to push our timeline back, though. We can’t just change a detail like that and expect to keep the same plan.”

“I have a couple weeks,” Rex points out. “We can come up with something.”

She shakes her head, clearly still irritated. “Yes. I suppose we’ll have to.”

He wants to tell her that a lot of this was his idea, and that she doesn’t get to tell him he shouldn’t back out of it. He wants to tell her she shouldn’t be so angry that they aren’t going to be cruel to her friend. But he doesn’t say that - he just keeps half an eye on her and taps the table with his knuckles, considering.

After a little while, they get some caf and food, and start discussing a new plan. The longer they discuss it, the less pissed Barriss seems, although Rex thinks she remains irritated. He doesn’t really care, because she’s agreed with him, and this means Ahsoka will be alright. When there are new possibilities laid out, with enough time for them to set up the new pieces of the plan, Rex says he needs to leave before he arouses anyone’s suspicion.

“Very well,” Barriss says, still rather weary. She rubs her face, and then for a moment something false about her expression clears, and she looks at Rex with a sort of sincere focus. “I’m sure it’s clear I’m not happy with your decision,” she says, a bit wryly, “but I do respect it nonetheless. It would be unreasonable of me to expect you to violate your conscience simply because none of this affects mine.”

Rex sighs, a little relieved, and nods. “I appreciate that,  _ jetii,” _ he says, short.

She smiles, nods back, and stands up, tapping their table as she moves away. “Of course. I’ll comm you when I have these details addressed, Rex.”

He remains seated - he intends to leave a few minutes after her. Just in case. “Good.”

She leaves without further comment, and Rex exhales long and slow and careful. This all might be okay. He can have what he wants - both Ahsoka  _ and  _ his statement to the  _ jetiise. _

~~~

The last four days have gone by faster than Ahsoka had expected - Rex being around is good, makes time seem to fly past. She spends most of her time talking to Rex, either in the barracks or, once, wandering a bit around Coruscant’s levels. After his chat with Cody the other night, Rex seems lighter, more relaxed - Ahsoka’s not sure what changed, but it’s almost a tangible thing.

It’s most noticeable here, sitting on his bed and flipping through the  _ multitude _ of few-second video clips uploaded to the GAR’s local HoloNet servers - Rex is next to her, shoulder brushing against hers, expression alternating between wry exasperation and bright amusement at the videos as they scroll by. The one she’s flipping to now happens to be one of her favorites - featuring Jesse in a too-large brownish wig of questionable origins.

_ “I’m the fearless, intrepid Jedi General Anakin Skywalker!” _ Jesse crows, in the video, brandishing a length of pipe she’s pretty sure fell off the  _ Twilight _ \- he flings his arm out too hard, though, and the meter-and-a-half piece of durasteel slips out of his hand and crashes into something off-camera, eliciting a series of high-pitched swearing from behind the camera and a loud,  _ “Shut  _ **_up,_ ** _ Fives! I have it under control-” _

The video cuts off there, and Ahsoka laughs (has been laughing since the moment Jesse appeared onscreen, really), tilts her head against Rex’s shoulder and grins up at him. “I told you these were funny,” she says.

“You’re all a bunch of  _ nerds, _ Tano,” Rex says, and she giggles a bit, rolls her eyes.

“We are  _ not! _ Here, this one’s good too-” and she pulls up the next one, which is just a clip of Hardcase imitating a Twi’lek dancing girl behind Cody’s back during a briefing, entirely silently, somehow without Cody noticing.

There are more in that series of videos - the most impressive one is Obi-Wan standing behind Cody and word-for-word mouthing the lecture Cody’s giving along with him.  _ How _ Cody doesn’t notice  _ that, _ Ahsoka doesn’t know, because it’s so  _ obvious, _ but- Maybe Cody just wasn’t paying that much attention, that day.

“These are… creative,” Rex says, dubiously, and Ahsoka snorts.

“They’re great,” she says through a yawn - it’s late, she should’ve been back in the Temple hours ago, but she doesn’t really care. Just adjusts so she can lay her head more on Rex’s shoulder and show him a few more videos - there’s one of Anakin in a trooper helmet pretending to be Jesse, while Jesse himself eggs him on. That one is, of course, immediately followed by a  _ very _ amused Obi-Wan pretending to be  _ Cody, _ handing his lightsaber over to said Commander (who is  _ extremely disgruntled) _ and lecturing him about “keeping a better grip”. “Fives came up with the idea, said they have to be five seconds long, something about paying homage to the genius behind all this. I think he’s a dumbass,” and she yawns again, sets the datapad aside.

Rex’s response is not at all what she’s expecting. “You’re beautiful, you know, Ahsoka,” he says, honest and almost casual, and she pauses in rubbing at her eyes so she can  _ stare _ for a second.

“I don’t-” She stops, knows she’s blushing all the way to the tips of her headtails, covers that up by tugging him down so she can kiss him. “Thanks?” she manages, after she pulls back and catches her breath.

“Anytime,” he says, warmly, grinning, and she smiles back and tucks herself back against his side again.

She’s  _ tired, _ she realizes, yawning again - she closes her eyes, hums a bit, says, sleepy, “You make a good pillow, you know.”

Rex laughs, rumbly, and asks, “Is that all?”

“Nah,” she huffs, not opening her eyes, “you’re a good kisser, too. Obviously.”

“Oh,  _ obviously, _ is it,” he says wryly, and she chuckles. “Well, thank you.”

“Mm, you’re welcome.” Ahsoka yawns, says, “‘m gonna sleep now,” wraps an arm around Rex’s waist, and lets herself drift off.

She misses whatever he says in return.

~~~

Rex doesn’t realize Ahsoka has fallen asleep until he chuckles at her and says she’s cute, and doesn’t get a response - she’s soft and relaxed against his chest and she’s not so much trying to hold onto him as her arm’s just curled loosely around his side. He sighs, runs a hand over one of her headtails, and realizes that he needs to go to sleep himself.

And she’s in his way. It’s not the worst problem he could have, really, but it occurs to him that normally she sleeps in the Jedi Temple. And he definitely can’t get her all the way back there tonight - experimentally, he shifts a little, considering trying to let her have the bed to herself, but she grumbles a little and her arm tightens on him, so that’s not going to work.

Oh well. He thinks this’ll be alright, anyway - he very carefully eases himself down to lay on his back, trying not to wake Ahsoka up, and puts an arm around her snug and comfortable. It’s a bit of a struggle, getting the blanket pulled over them both without waking her up, but he manages and then settles in, holds her against his chest and sighs a little.

This is good,  _ really _ good. He can’t feel anything but  _ content, _ especially when Ahsoka adjusts herself a little like she’s getting more comfortable, tightens her arm around him a bit and turns her face so it’s pressed against his collarbone. Despite the fact that he’s on  _ Coruscant, _ despite the fact that this is the last place he’d ever thought he would want to be again and he doesn’t know what will happen after he and Offee set off their bomb - he’s still happy, right now.

He thinks it’s been awhile, since that’s happened. Sometimes everything’s really overwhelming, but it’s okay tonight.

He shifts a little, tucks Ahsoka even closer, and closes his eyes, breathes in and out slow and deep and enjoys the quiet, and the warmth, until he can fall asleep.

 

Rex wakes up slowly (which means he’s safe), gets the feeling when he cracks his eyes open that it’s later in the morning than he’d prefer. But it’s  _ vacation, _ of sorts, and anyway, he’s not a soldier anymore.

Ahsoka’s already awake, and tracing her fingers back and forth on his shoulder. She doesn’t seem very focused, so he sighs and doesn’t bother saying anything, just tightens his arms around her and shifts around a little.

“G’morning,” she mumbles, and leans up a little to kiss him, which surprises him a bit. He chuckles, smiles at her.

“Hey, Ahsoka. Comfortable?”

“Mhm,” she answers. She goes back to tracing her fingers on his shoulder again, absently, and Rex almost wants to laugh. He doesn’t, though - that seems a little rude, especially this early in the day.

Sighing, he frees one hand to soothe over her montrals, because he likes the feel of them, and says, “So, what do you have to do today,  _ jetii?” _

Ahsoka tilts her head a bit towards his hand with a hum - he’d almost call it a  _ purr? _ “Just this, I think. Tomorrow I have a meeting with a friend, but that’s all.”

Rex can’t help a small spike of anxiety, but it’s alright. Ahsoka’s just meeting Ao now with no nanodroids involved - originally, the plan was for Offee to put the nanodroids in Ao’s food during her meet-up with Ahsoka, making her an unwitting suicide bomber. But they’re not doing that now. So it’s just going to be lunch, and Ahsoka will never know how close this all came. “Well, good,” he says, pleased.

“Yeah,” she says, sleepily, grinning and shuffling around a little. “That means I can stay here.”

“Oh yeah, lucky you,” he says, mock sarcastic.

“The luckiest,” she answers, surprisingly serious, and sighs comfortably. He chuckles at her and rubs her back.

“You’re too nice, Tano,” honestly, she is, “I don’t get you.”

She yawns slightly, smiles. “Nah. Sometimes-” with a little sigh, “-I’m not very nice at all.”

“Since when,” he teases.

“Since always.” She rolls her eyes, and Rex gets more serious, shrugs a little.

“Yeah, well, look at who you’re talking to.”

She laughs at him, fingers loose on his shoulder, and shakes her head a little. Rex really does like her eyes. “You know, you really aren’t as bad as you seem to think you are.”

The statement is so ironic that Rex almost laughs and has to stifle the sound into a snort and a smile. “No, I’m sure you’re right,” he says, more sardonically than he should. Whether she’s right or not, he doesn’t  _ really _ know, but he does know what  _ she _ would think if she knew what he’s been up to lately.

But he has  _ vode _ to help and a point to make. So whether she’s right or not doesn’t  _ matter. _

Ahsoka rolls her eyes at him a little, clearly unimpressed with his cynicism, and Rex chuckles a little and squeezes her shoulder with one hand.

“Alright, really, you’re right,” he says, more sincerely, placating. “I’m not so bad, or you wouldn’t be here.” It’s a joke, but really, it’s probably sort of true.

“I’m always right,” she points out  _ (that’s _ not true, but she can think what she wants), and buries her face against his chest.

_ “Sure,” _ he huffs. “Keep thinking that, Ahsoka.”

“Shut up.”

Rex obliges, because he’s comfortable and he doesn’t feel like being a pest, just now. So both he and Ahsoka are quiet for a while, and Ahsoka traces patterns on his shoulder, until Rex feels awake enough to want to get up and get some caf.

As he convinces Ahsoka to get up to go get breakfast, Rex has a sudden and almost euphoric feeling that everything’s actually looking up - by some improbable twist of fate he’s got a _jetii_ _cyar’ika,_ he has a real home somewhere with his brothers where he can stay and be happy, and he finally gets what he’s wanted for over a year now (in some ways longer). It makes his chest almost light, and so if he smiles a little too much when they go for breakfast, it’s not his fault.

~~~

The day passes by both slow and fast at the same time - everything is lazy and relaxed, calm,  _ peaceful, _ but it’s over too soon. Ahsoka spends the night with Rex again, curled up against his side with her head against his chest, listening to the reassuring sound of his heartbeat until she falls asleep. It’s another night without nightmares, somehow, and she sleeps in, then lays in bed and slips her fingers through Rex’s hair until he wakes up.

It’s so  _ good, _ right now. Like the Force is finally making up for all the uncertainty of the past few months, of Onderon and Zygerria and the way the war still feels so  _ wrong. _

She has lunch with Ao, just the two of them for once - usually Barriss is there too - and the Nautolan girl tells Ahsoka about her most recent mission assignment: “They’re sending me down into the Underworld for a few days - I’m to be a Jedi presence, to remind the bounty hunters and criminals that we  _ are _ still paying attention, even though the war keeps us busy. I’m actually supposed to leave this afternoon.”

Ahsoka smiles. “Well, good luck,” she says. “I’m not on official leave, so there’s a pretty good chance I’ll be on a campaign by the time you get back - you’ll have to comm me and let me know how it goes.”

“I will,” Ao says cheerfully. “Now, I have to get ready to go, and I hear you’ve got a  _ friend,” _ and she grins mischievously, “onworld, so we should get going. But next time you and Barriss and I are all in the Temple, we should have dinner.”

“Dex’s,” Ahsoka agrees.

“It’s a date,” says Ao, and then laughs. “See you later, Ahsoka.”

Ahsoka’s grinning when she leaves the Temple behind.

And, somehow, things  _ stay _ good, for a few more days - Ahsoka spends time with Rex, with her battalion, laughing over Jesse’s and Fives’ predictably  _ not happy _ reactions to the fact that Rex  _ kissed her, _ in front of the  _ whole battalion, _ no less. It’s not until a little over a week into Rex’s visit to Coruscant that the 501st is given orders to help with the campaign on Cato Neimoidia. Ahsoka doesn’t want to go - she wants to stay on Coruscant with Rex and kiss him until she’s breathless and sleep all curled up in his arms where it’s safe - but she has no choice, so she sighs and prepares. Lets Rex know they probably won’t be gone for too long; it’s an easy campaign, theoretically, and so she should be back before Rex has to go home to Kiros.

It takes her longer than it probably should to say goodbye, but just in case the campaign lasts longer than expected, she kisses Rex  _ quite _ thoroughly before she goes. If this is the last chance she has to kiss him before he goes back to Kiros, she wants to make the most of it.

And then they’re boarding the  _ Resolute, _ on the way to Cato Neimoidia, and Ahsoka runs her fingers absently over her wristcomm.

She’ll keep in touch, even while they’re on a campaign. It’s the least she can do.

~~~

The day Ahsoka leaves, Rex spends the whole rest of the day with Cody, and they talk. It’s mostly nice - a little off still. Rex knows he’s let Cody down, and knows that Cody wouldn’t like what he’s doing now, and he thinks maybe he’s never really going to have his  _ ori’vod _ back like he used to have him. He reminds himself that’s alright. This is good enough - better than letting Cody think he’s dead, still. The war and the  _ jetiise, _ they kriff things up, and this is part of that too.

He just never expected things to change with Cody - when they were cadets and everything still made some amount of sense, Rex had been sure that whatever else, they’d always be _best friends._ _Ori’vode,_ they’d decided, when Jango taught them the word and the idea. And of course he hadn’t known better, and it was a stupid thought (because they learned nobody got to _keep_ things, not even people), but still. Cody had been a constant.

But the war - no,  _ Rex _ ruined that.

It’s later in the evening, and they’re sitting in the 212th’s mess hall and having some moonshine, and in a lull in conversation (after Rex has just finished ranting about Turner’s  _ shitty _ reaction to Ahsoka), Cody leans forward on his forearms and fixes Rex with a sharp look. “You’ve been off,” he says, shortly, and Rex frowns. “It’s been a while, but I think I still know you pretty well, Rex, and something’s going on with you.”

“What isn’t,” Rex answers, flatly, half-smiling.

Rubbing his face, Cody sighs, long and slow. “Yeah. But I’m just- Concerned, I guess. You seem really on edge and if it’s- the men at all, or Coruscant, it would be good to know. Maybe I could help.”

Rex swallows, but then schools his face into a careless half-smile and shrugs. “The men are fine, Codes, in both battalions. They’re not so happy I kissed Ahsoka, but that’s not really their business.”

“It is a little,” Cody says, with a wry chuckle. “She’s basically their  _ vod’ika, _ Rex, and you know she’s been through some shit lately. They’re not gonna go easy on you.”

“I know, I know,” Rex huffs. “But really, Cody, I’m fine.”

“To be honest, I think that’s banthashit.” His  _ ori’vod  _ taps the table with his knuckles and looks around quietly, then leans forward and sighs. “You didn’t tell me you were still alive, Rex. That was a pretty damn big deal. And you’re- Like it or not, you seem pissed off all the time now, and I just- can’t help but feel like you’re still not telling me everything.” Rex doesn’t like how sharp Cody’s look is, like he wants to dig Rex’s secrets out of him by force.

Rex looks his brother in the eyes and shrugs, lips twisting bitterly. “Why shouldn’t I be pissed, Cody?” he asks, tiredly. “I lost a lot and it’s hard to keep doing that. I left, I’m kind of happy now, so why don’t we just- Let’s just let it go.”

Cody sighs, looks down, and rubs his face with one hand. “You’re right,” he says. “I’m sorry, Rex, it’s just- hard, still.”

Rex’s stomach twists and he shifts in his seat, lifting his cup to his lips and taking a burning swallow of moonshine so he can pretend he doesn’t care. “I know,” he says. Right now everything still feels like he’s making a mistake, like it could all come crashing down - he just has to hope no one will think he was involved with his and Barriss’ operation, when it happens. Maybe it’s foolish to be afraid they’ll know, maybe it’s ridiculous to assume they  _ wouldn’t, _ but either way he just wants to pull all of this off without losing the people he loves.

Maybe working with Barriss in the first place was a mistake. He should’ve just been content on Kiros and not stirred up this mess. But he wants things to  _ change, _ and he can’t make that happen if he’s  _ content. _

He and Cody work their way back to safer topics for a while, and really things  _ are _ better with them, now - Rex admits to being excited about the new… relationship, he guesses, with Ahsoka. Cody laughs at him, for it, but he seems pleased too. Rex heads back to his borrowed room to sleep, and finds that he really hopes Ahsoka gets back soon. Hells, he knows how campaigns work, and probably this one will end up dragging on longer than Ahsoka predicted, but he wants to see her again sooner than that. They have things to figure out before he leaves, after all.

 

The next day, Rex sleeps in until mid-morning and then fiddles around with the firing mechanisms on his blasters until he’s awake and bored enough to wander down to the mess for lunch. Datapad in one hand, he ambles into the mess hall and over to the tables to get some caf and breakfast. It only takes him a moment, however, to realize that the few  _ vode _ still around seem  _ off, _ edgy and quiet, and he can hear snippets of anxious conversation. Really, there should be more  _ vode _ here at this time of day, even with part of the battalion gone on a campaign.

Rex pauses what he’s doing, looks around the mess with a more critical eye, and finds himself almost alarmed - he abandons the idea of getting caf, for the moment, and walks over to a  _ vod _ who’s sitting with a couple other troopers.

_ “Is everything okay?” _ Rex asks, in Mando’a, careful of their distrustful looks.  _ “Everyone looks tense.” _

_ “Most of the battalion is on standby,”  _ his  _ vod _ says, shortly, lip curling a little.  _ “I don’t know how you managed to  _ miss it, _ verd, but somebody bombed the fekking  _ Jedi Temple _ about half an hour ago. They’re calling the rest of the battalion back.” _

Rex feels everything  _ stop _ in one harsh, unbelieving instant, suddenly as clear as glass before it shatters.

So this is it, then.


	18. Chapter 18

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> we're terribly sorry about the wait! collegefangirl is entering the busiest part of her college semester as she preps for finals, and skywalking-across-the-galaxy (that's me!) is working 40 hours a week and lowkey dying from it all.
> 
> we'd love to hear what you think!

They’ve only just begun the actual assault on Cato Neimoidia when the Council comms.

It’d been the work of a couple hours to break the Separatist blockade, and Ahsoka and Anakin had taken their fighters down into the planet’s atmosphere - she’d had to save Anakin’s ass  _ again _ (honestly, she should start making bets with Jesse and the other boys about this, it’s really a regular occurence), and then she’s barely hopped onto the transport Jesse’d brought down to pick them up when Anakin’s wristcomm chimes.

“Skywalker,” he answers, short, furrowing his brow a bit. 

_ “Knight Skywalker,” _ and it’s Master Windu,  _ “you, your padawan, and your battalion are needed back at the Temple immediately. There’s been an attack.” _

“Someone attacked  _ Coruscant?” _ Anakin swears under his breath. “How did we not see that coming?”

_ “No, Skywalker,” _ Windu says, his voice almost  _ ominous, _ and Ahsoka frowns.  _ “Someone bombed the Temple. As you and Padawan Tano were offworld at the time of the attack, we need you to investigate matters.” _

There’s silence in the transport. It echoes, almost, is heavy with fear and tension. “Understood,” Anakin says, after a minute. “I’ll call the troops back and we’ll be on our way immediately.”

_ “Thank you.” _ The comm goes dead, and Anakin looks at Ahsoka - she’s pretty sure her face mirrors the worry-concern-fear in his eyes almost exactly. 

“Who would bomb the  _ Jedi Temple?” _ she asks, very soft. “Who  _ could?” _

“That,” her Master says, very serious, “is what we have to figure out.”

 

The Temple is a buzz of activity when Ahsoka and Anakin finally make it to Coruscant; the huge, old building’s ventilation systems are belching black smoke, although she can’t see a fire anywhere. The bomb must’ve gone off somewhere inside the Temple proper - and she counts back the hours to when they got the comm, realizes it would’ve blown up around lunch time. When the inner areas are full.

Who could’ve  _ done this? _

A comm from the Council instructs them to make their way to the commissary, but before they’re even halfway there Ahsoka’s choking on smoke and ash, swirling through the air in hazy spirals. “Anakin,” she says, after a minute, “we might want to wait to look around until after the vents get some of this cleared out.”

Anakin pauses for a moment, but he shakes his head. “We need to at least get an idea of where to start,” he says. Looks at her for a minute - she can feel him nudging their training bond, assessing - and then says, “If you want to run down to the barracks and give the men the rundown - put them on standby, let Jesse, Fives, and Echo know there’s a possibility a Jedi is involved - and then come back, go ahead.” It’s an excuse for her to get out of the smoke, she knows, so she takes it gratefully.

“I will, Master. Thank you.” She turns and leaves behind the smoke-filled hallway, heading for the barracks, mind already spinning.

She’ll tell Jesse and Fives and Echo about the situation, of course, but then she needs to talk to Rex. Because if  _ anyone _ knows he’s here who shouldn’t, knows who he is… he could be a  _ prime _ suspect.

~~~

Rex escapes the mess without lunch or caf, leaving behind the tension and sharp looks of the  _ vode  _ there, his head spinning, heart pounding.

He and Barriss decided on  _ later. _ She  _ said _ they had to push the timeline back, they made a whole new plan, and he’d thought-  _ Damn _ what he’d thought, he’d been an idiot to trust even her appearance of sincerity. She went ahead without him, fekking hells, he  _ should have known. _ Gods.

He sits down on the bunk in his room, curls his hands into fists and leans forward over his knees, working to get control of himself and figure out what to do.

Barriss is going to frame Ahsoka after all, despite everything, despite their friendship, and Rex is going to lose her. He can’t tell anyone what he did - they’d kill him, and then where would his brothers be? Hells, they might even change their minds and arrest his brothers, too. But he can’t let Barriss go through with their plan - that would end with Ahsoka convicted of blowing up the Jedi Temple, of killing other Jedi. She’d end up in prison or, truthfully, executed. Rex pushes himself off his bunk, sets about pacing back and forth. His comm pings. He doesn’t answer it. He needs to think - what’s he going to say? Will anyone know this was him? How can he  _ fix this? _

He realizes, too quickly, with a wave of cold nausea, that his only good option is to tell Ahsoka herself what’s going on, before Barriss can really set her plan in motion.  _ Their _ plan.  _ Gods. _

Ahsoka’s going to hate him. Never going to trust him again. But she promised she wouldn’t let anything happen to his  _ vode, _ and maybe he can convince her not to turn him in. She can evade Barriss’ plan - maybe it would be wise to try to help her get Barriss convicted, actually. Then there will be a culprit, Ahsoka will be safe, and Rex can leave.

It’s a miserable option. He doesn’t  _ want _ to lose what he has with Ahsoka, it’s brand new and he’d felt  _ so close _ to something approaching happiness - but he did fine without her before and if he’s lucky,  _ very _ lucky, and careful, he’ll scrape out of this and get back to his  _ vode. _ That will be good enough at this point.

Rex clasps his hands too-tight behind his back and breathes out, slowly. That’s what he’s got to do. Tell Ahsoka. The troopers said the battalion’s been called back, so when Ahsoka’s back - he assumes she’ll want to talk to him, at least long enough to update him, and then he’ll tell her. For now he thinks he’d better stay out of everyone’s way. This is bad enough without the battalion getting ideas about his involvement with the explosion and lynching him before he can talk to Ahsoka.

Waiting to hear from her is excruciating, especially because Rex has an idea after about fifteen minutes of restlessly scrolling through the holonews that maybe Ahsoka won’t bother contacting him, if they’re having her and Skywalker investigate like Barriss thought. But he figures if it starts taking too long he’ll just go look for her; for now he makes himself sit quietly and do mindless things on his datapad and fiddle with his blasters. He feels a little sick, anxious and twisted up, but there’s nothing he can do about that now.

After about an hour, just when Rex is thinking he should go find Ahsoka, there’s a knock on his door and he pushes himself carefully to his feet, goes over to pull it open.

He’s found Ahsoka after all - she stands in the doorway with a concerned look on her face, and Rex’s stomach drops, cold and leaden. He half wants to shut the door and lock her out. She shifts her weight a little from foot to foot, and says, "I'm sure you've heard the news.” Rex nods, tersely, a sick taste in his mouth. “Anakin and I are supposed to investigate the bombing, but- I need you to lay low and stay quiet, because if anyone beyond the men finds out who you are, you'll be an immediate, prime suspect.”

Rex could almost laugh. Of-kriffing-course she’s here being concerned about people suspecting him. He doesn’t know how he can tell her what he did. “Actually, I- If you have a second, I need to talk to you.”

“Okay, what’s wrong?” Ahsoka asks, concerned, stepping closer to him to set a hand on his shoulder. This time, Rex can’t stop a huffed half-laugh, and he steps back into his room and gestures for her to come in.

“You should- maybe sit.” Rex rubs his face and closes the door behind Ahsoka as she comes in.

She frowns a little at him, a bit appraising, then says, “Alright - can I get a hug first? Since I just got back and haven’t seen you for a few days?”

Rex swallows a little and reaches out to pull Ahsoka into a short, tight embrace, resting his chin between her montrals for a second. Then he pulls back, goes with her to sit down on the edge of his bed. His mouth is dry and he wants to back out of this. But he can’t, not if he wants to fix it, so he leans forward, arms on his knees, and sighs. “The explosion, in the Temple - it’s partly my fault.”

There’s a second of quiet - Rex isn’t sure what Ahsoka’s thinking, then, “What?” she asks him, quietly.

Rex grits his teeth. He can do this. He got himself into this mess, he can damn well own up to it and take the consequences. “This was- part of a plan I had, with- a jetii. It was supposed to be called off but- they went ahead with it without me.”

~~~

Ahsoka can feel her eyes widening, feel the blood rushing from her face, even as the words don’t quite make sense in her mind. “What?” she repeats, slowly, that one word barely stumbling its way out.

_ This was part of a plan I had. _

_ With a Jedi. _

That’s not possible.  _ Neither _ of those things are possible, Rex wouldn’t-

“That’s why you came,” she whispers, barely keeps herself from getting to her feet to back away. “Not to see me, to- blow up my  _ home? _ To- kill people?”

Rex stares down at the floor, says, “Kind of. It was- both,” and he cringes. “I tried to call it off. The other day. But clearly that didn’t work.”

Ahsoka… Ahsoka doesn’t even know what to  _ think. _

“I thought this meant something to you,” she says, very softly, can’t swallow back the aching hurt of  _ betrayal _ she feels, radiating out into the Force, she’s sure. “I thought-  _ I _ meant something to you.”

He rubs his face, swallowing, and says, flat, “It’s worse.”

She closes her eyes, rubs her temples, pushes back the threatening tears. “You mentioned a Jedi is involved,” she says, in as close to the same flat voice as she can imagine.

She opens her eyes in time to see Rex just  _ looking _ at her, apologetic, and she barely has time to brace herself before he looks away again and manages, “Yeah, um… Offee. We- planned this together.”

Offee.  _ Barriss. _

“Barriss would  _ never,” _ Ahsoka says, sharp and disbelieving, shakes her head. “She’s a  _ healer, _ Rex, she wouldn’t bomb anything! Especially not the  _ Temple. _ She’s the- most perfect padawan I’ve ever met, she’s almost a Knight.”

Barriss wouldn’t do something like this. Ahsoka  _ knows her, _ better than she knows almost anyone else, she knows her best friend wouldn’t be a  _ terrorist. _

But then again- she hadn’t thought Rex would be one, either.

He shakes his head. “You don’t have to believe me. But it’s true, she commed me a month ago and we decided we were going to do this. Bomb the Temple and frame a Jedi for it, so we could criticize their involvement in the war.”

Ahsoka opens her mouth to protest and then stops. Stops, because she remembers Barriss talking about the war, about wanting it to end, about how she didn’t think the Jedi should be fighting it anymore. “I always thought,” she says, morose, “that if Barriss was going to- protest, she’d do it peacefully.” She swallows, takes a deep breath. “You said- framing a Jedi. Who? I’ll need to know, so that Anakin and I can protect them.”

Rex closes his eyes. “You.”  _ What? _ “That’s why I backed out of the plan, I couldn’t do it.”

In some awful, twisted way, it makes sense. Because who’s the Jedi Barriss knows the best, after all. Ahsoka laughs, bitter, and somehow it turns into tears, and she doesn’t even bother to try and stifle them anymore, just lets them come. “Of course it’s me,” she manages to choke out, shaking her head a bit, burying her face in her hands. Betrayed by two of the people she’s closest with, besides her Masters.

The worst part is despite all of it, she still wants him to comfort her.

There’s a moment of silence, and then Rex speaks, again, quiet, exhausted and almost small, she thinks. “I’m  _ sorry, _ Ahsoka.” She believes him, too. Somehow. “I know that doesn’t help but I’m- I tried to fix it, I told her we should do something else and she agreed, but then- I guess she just went ahead without me.”

Ahsoka rubs at her eyes, takes a shaky breath. “I know you are,” she whispers. “I can feel it.” It’s true - it echoes into the Force, how sorry he is, how  _ sad _ he is. “But I can’t forgive you yet, this- it’s not something that just will go away like that,” and she pulls one hand away from her face to snap her fingers together, demonstratively. “I- need time.” She swallows, squares her shoulders and sits up straighter, swipes at her eyes and says, “How is she going to do it? I am  _ not _ taking the fall for this, so I need to know how she’s going to frame me and I need evidence to give to the Council.”

“Offee put nano-explosives in Ao’s food when you were going to lunch. You were the last person to see her before the explosion, so suspicion was going to fall on you. The GAR would probably take you into custody, for that, to question you, then Offee would anonymously break you out.”

Ahsoka swallows, nods. “Ao…” Ao is- was- their  _ friend, _ how could Barriss do this? “The first part of that plan is still going to work, unless-” She stops, takes a deep breath, careful. “Unless we can give evidence to the Council.”

“I thought- we could find a way to turn the plan on Offee, catch her trying to frame you,” Rex suggests, and Ahsoka nods, thoughtful. Pulls on every lesson, every instance of  _ purpose before feelings, _ and shoves all the aching emotions down into a box where they won’t get in the way.

Because she has to  _ focus, _ here. Or-

She can’t think about the  _ or. _

“That would mean I let them take me in,” she says, quietly. “And if- Barriss-” her voice hitches a bit on the name “-is planning to break me out…” She considers. “I would need to break myself out.”

This  _ hurts, _ if she lets herself think about it. That she’s planning a way to catch her best friend in the act of trying to frame her for  _ terrorism. _ That she can’t even reach for comfort from her- from Rex, because he was  _ involved _ in all this mess and she’s too confused, still, to even know what to think about that.

He’s too important to her for her to walk away, because of this. But a part of her isn’t sure how she can  _ forgive him _ for this.

But she’ll have to try. 

~~~

Rex doesn’t even want to look up at Ahsoka, and keeps his hands twisted tightly together so he doesn’t try to reach out to comfort her, because he knows that wouldn’t be welcome. “How would you do that?” he asks, neutrally, rubbing his thumb hard over the back of his hand.

“I don’t know yet,” Ahsoka answers, tiredly, “but it’d mean not following the obvious path.”

“I don’t really know how she was planning to break you out, that part of things was her responsibility,” Rex says. “Although it’s safe to assume she was going to try to make it seem like you were running scared, and I doubt she was going to be subtle.”

He glances at her, sees her nod, swallowing. “I- know her well enough that I think once I see the setup I’ll be able to figure out what she’s doing.”

Rex sighs. “Good. When you get out, you and I can rendezvous somewhere in the lower levels and try to work out a plan to catch her from there.” He thinks it should work, as long as they’re careful - he thinks Offee is probably betting on the idea that he wouldn’t spoil the plan once she put it in motion, and as long as they can keep her from realizing they’re trying to do this, it should work.

Ahsoka nods again, then hesitates a little and glances at him. “You could tell the Council.”

Rex swallows and looks down, shakes his head minutely. “I- You know I can’t do that.”

She frowns a little, pauses, then sets a hand on his shoulder. He almost flinches. “They more than likely wouldn’t do anything to you, Rex, and it’d be the safest option. Then they could get someone else to investigate, maybe even question Barriss herself.”

“They wouldn’t ‘do anything to me’ for bombing their  _ Temple,” _ Rex says, flatly. “I can’t risk that. If you’re wrong, they’ll fekking execute me and I can’t really afford that.”

“Rex, you know I wouldn’t let them do that.” Ahsoka sounds so serious, and Rex grits his teeth a little and wishes he was anywhere but here. She takes her hand off his shoulder, though, and says, “But I understand,” and he nods a little.

“I think we can do this without telling them,” he says, half-apologetic (because how  _ selfish _ is it to be concerned about his own well-being, right now). “I just can’t risk getting my  _ vode  _ in trouble, either.” Because it’s about them, too - enough people know about them that he’s not sure somebody wouldn’t go after them, if anything happened to him.

“I know,” she says, with a tired sigh.

Rex nods and twists his fingers together, silently. He can barely look at her. “We can fix this,” he says, flatly. And after that... then it doesn’t really matter.

Ahsoka reaches over to touch his hand, lightly. “You mean too much to me for me to lose you to this- revenge quest, Rex,” she says quietly, and he shrugs, not sure how to respond.

He settles for “Thanks,” awkwardly, and a deep, shaky inhale. He doesn’t tell her that it’s not revenge, or that she won’t lose him, or that he regrets this whole thing - none of this is like what he’d hoped for, and he’s given up on any of it working out in his favor, but the fact is that if he could make his point without involving her, he would. He thinks now’s not the time to be thinking about that.

Ahsoka leaves her hand on his, and Rex sighs after a moment, tired. “Were you going to get back to the investigation?” he asks, listless.

“Yeah.” Ahsoka pauses, takes a deep breath. “Watch the news, you’ll know when it’s time to meet up, I guess. I’ll comm you.” After a second, she squeezes his hand and gets to her feet to leave. Rex just keeps looking at the floor, listens to her footsteps as she walks out, and tries to let it go.

~~~

The shocktroopers come for her a few hours later, after she and Anakin have delivered their report to the Council - that the explosion was the result of nanodroids either planted in Ao’s food or which she ingested herself. The Council hadn’t entirely wanted to believe that Ao would make herself into a suicide bomber for no reason, but they’d sighed and accepted the facts as the only answer available.

Ahsoka really, really hopes they aren’t going to change their minds once Barriss makes her move.

She and Anakin are sitting on the edge of a fountain in the Temple gardens, talking about nothing in particular, when the shocktroopers march in - a full squad, including Commander Fox and Admiral Tarkin. Anakin goes tense, frowning, and Ahsoka nudges him through their training bond.  _ Relax, Master, _ she says, apologetic.  _ I knew this was going to happen, and it needs to- I can’t tell you why, though. You just have to trust me. _

_ Snips, what are you talking about? _ Anakin asks, looking over at her, and she can feel worry and fear and nerves, which she tries to soothe, although she knows in a minute it’ll be a futile exercise.

“Commander Ahsoka Tano,” Tarkin says, just as oily and unctuous and thin as she remembers from the Citadel extraction mission, “you are under arrest for suspicions of colluding with terrorists.”

_ “What?” _ Anakin snaps out, followed by a string of impressive swearing in Huttese. “What the  _ kriff _ are you talking about, Tarkin?”

“Ahsoka Tano is the last person to have seen Ao Nuren alive,” Tarkin says, tucking his hands behind him in impeccable parade rest. It’s not half as impressive as her battalion. “An anonymous tip says that your last meeting with Padawan Nuren was a lunch meeting that could’ve been used to plan this attack. We have some  _ questions _ to ask you, Commander Tano.”

“Alright,” Ahsoka says, steadily, pushes herself to her feet.  _ Trust me, Skyguy. You and the Jedi have to trust me. _ “But I didn’t have anything to do with this, I wasn’t even onworld.”

“Then you should have no trouble answering our questions.” Tarkin gestures at Fox, and the Commander steps forward with a pair of binders. “If you behave, we’ll leave you in normal binders - try to escape and you’ll get Force-inhibiting ones.”

She nods, holds out her wrists for Fox to cuff, forces herself not to jump when another trooper takes the lightsabers off her belt and the commlink off her wrist.

“Wait,” Anakin says, fast, “you can’t just- take her, she hasn’t  _ done anything.” _

“It is my job to ensure she has not,” Tarkin says, lifts his chin. “Calm down, General Skywalker, before you’re arrested on charges of obstructing my investigation.”

Anakin swears under his breath but sits back down, slowly, and Fox and another trooper take Ahsoka’s arms and march her back into the Temple, through the winding corridors and out a side entrance, to a waiting transport. She’s pushed inside and supported by Fox as the transport takes off, is in the air for a few minutes of tense silence before it lands at a Republic base she’s not seen before. 

Tarkin and Fox escort her to a cell, and as soon as they’re inside vivid red ray shields warp to life across the entrance. The binders are removed then, hooked back onto Fox’s belt, although the Commander settles a hand on his blaster, like a warning, Ahsoka thinks.

And so the questioning begins.

Tarkin asks her several questions about the lunch with Ao, about Ao herself, about the general political climate at the Temple in regards to the war; Ahsoka explains that there are some Jedi who have been more vocal in their dislike for the war and their belief that the fighting goes against the Jedi Code. She makes sure to stress the fact that this is an  _ internal affair, _ there’s no need for GAR intervention.

Tarkin, predictably, ignores that last statement, ends up pronouncing that she’ll be kept in custody until they can verify her lack of involvement (although  _ how _ exactly they plan to do that, she’s not sure - not that it matters, as she’s not going to be in custody for very long, she has a feeling), and he and Fox leave her alone in her cell after an hour or so.

Barriss should be- making a move soon.

_ Hells. _

Ahsoka can hardly let herself think about the fact that she’s planning to outsmart her  _ best friend, _ that her- boyfriend? had been planning to use her in his  _ revenge, _ or she won’t be able to do this. So she focuses on the feel of the Force, sinks into meditation, until the Force whispers to her that  _ someone’s here, _ and she opens her eyes in time to see a keycard clatter to the floor outside her cell.

_ Offee would anonymously break you out. _

Ahsoka takes a deep breath, then reaches into the Force, levitates the keycard up and swipes it through the lock, releasing the ray shields. She steps out, looks around, quickly, and then reaches for the Force again and pushes aside the cover over the ventilation shaft, vaults up and pulls herself inside, replaces the cover and closes her eyes and  _ listens. _

She’s going to need her sabers, and her commlink to get in contact with Rex. So she tentatively seeks out the distinctive hum of her kyber crystals, orients herself in the Force, and starts slipping through the vents, follows the corridor back to the guard’s station, pauses over it. There’s-  _ no. _

In the corridor outside the guard’s office, three shocktroopers lay at odd angles, limbs sprawled out, one with his helmet cocked at an angle that she  _ suspects _ means his neck is broken. And her sabers and commlink are sitting on the floor in the center.

Oh,  _ Force, _ kriffing hells, no.

She sucks in a sharp breath, closes her eyes and forces down the emotions - she’ll deal with them  _ later, _ right now she  _ has _ to get out so she can figure this whole mess out. So she carefully slips the grating she’s peering through aside and concentrates a moment, calls her sabers and wristcomm to her, affixes them in place and takes another breath.

She  _ wants _ to drop down and check on the troopers - the one with the broken neck will need healing immediately if he’s going to survive, and the other two don’t look to be in very good condition either - but before she can move to do so, a door opens in the far side of the guard’s station and Fox walks in. He stands there for a moment, then glances at some sort of screen she can’t read, then runs forward to see the shocktroopers on the ground - swears rapidly in Mando’a and slams his hand down onto a button. The lights go red and alarm sirens blare and Ahsoka curses mentally, spins around and crawls through the vents again, follows the tugging of the Force to a back entrance, drops out of the vents and lands quietly on her feet, makes for the doors.

She almost makes it unchallenged.

But just as she’s setting a hand on the door to slip out, a trooper in the distinctive red paint of the Coruscant Guard comes around a corner and freezes, goes on his comm and says, “Sir, I’ve found the prisoner!”

Ahsoka doesn’t wait for him to say anything further, just shoves one hand out to Force-push him to the floor, whips around and bolts out the door, Force-jumps over the wall surrounding the base, and disappears into the night.

This is not going well already.

She needs to find Rex.

~~~

Not long after Rex and Ahsoka had talked, when Rex was left by himself in his room, Cody had shown up at his door, and Rex hadn’t even had to wonder if Cody knew what he’d done (and Rex isn’t sure what that says about them, anymore, really). They’d talked. Rex doesn’t really want to think about it, anymore than he wants to think about the look Ahsoka had had on her face right now, either. Cody had been angry, but it’s worse because Rex almost thinks his  _ ori’vod _ was too tired and disappointed to be as angry as he should have been. Rex had explained himself, had promised he was going to try to fix it, had told him he didn’t want to hurt Ahsoka, but it doesn’t feel like it had helped.

Cody told him to leave. He’d said the others would work it out eventually, or some idea of things, and it would be better if Rex weren’t in the barracks. Rex had told him he was right.

He said he was sorry.

He’s not sure what Cody thinks about it. Cody just left. Rex is too tired to hurt, almost.

So Rex had packed up his few things again, buckled on his armor and tugged on his helmet, and very quietly left the barracks. He was supposed to meet with Ahsoka in the lower levels close to the GAR headquarters, and although he didn’t really know his way around Coruscant, he thought he had enough of an idea that it was easy to find one of the lifts to take him down a few levels below where Ahsoka should be getting out. He’s intensely aware of his surroundings, of the neon Aurebesh signs and the sentients bustling their busy, uncomfortable way along the streets. Everything smells like grease and smoke, even through his helmet’s filtering system.

He reaches for all the training and experience that has taught him how to keep going when he’s too exhausted or too hurt or too lost and steels himself against all the emotions that are trying to war in his chest. He forces them into a small burning point that stings the backs of his eyes and focuses on the one thing he can still do that’s  _ right,  _ that makes sense. Fixing this for Ahsoka.

He gets a comm. It’s not from Ahsoka, it’s from Brii.

_ “Vod?” _ he asks.  _ “Rex, I- they’re all saying you must have been the one that attacked the jetii Temple. You- You didn’t, did you?” _

Rex doesn’t want to answer. He does, though.  _ “Not exactly, Brii. It’s complicated. I can’t talk now, I’m- I’m busy, I’m trying to help Ahsoka.” _

_ “Akaan’s trying to keep everyone from comming you. I’m not supposed to be.” _

_ “Tell everyone it’s safer if they don’t comm me until I comm you first.” _ Rex rubs his face and tries not to feel sick.  _ “And tell Naas I’m going to be okay.” _

_ “Okay. K’oyacyi, Rex.” _

Rex hangs up the call and curls his hands into fists.

He makes his way down four levels, finds himself a corner of a train station to wait at, thumbs hooked on his belt. People don’t ask questions of troopers, it seems, although he gets a couple suspicious looks. He knows no one even remotely connects him with what’s going on with the Temple, but it still sets him on edge, and he finds himself walking stiffly, tense, muscles tight. There’re torn pieces of pin-up posters and ads for nightclubs on the walls of the nearest building, painted over with a graffiti symbol and phrase in Aurebesh that he’s seen among the war protestors, while he’s been here. He watches the crowd for a while, the patterned flow of how they walk, how everyone avoids him - there’s no one bumping into him or brushing against him or even nodding at him as they go by. He’s not sure what he thinks that means.

After a while, there’s a ping from his comm and he steps back further from the flow of the crowds. It’s Ahsoka, this time, and she tells him to meet him two levels further down, names a street corner - Rex wishes he were more familiar with Coruscant, at the moment, but he thinks it won’t be hard to find, the way the streets are organized. He can’t really read Ahsoka’s tone, although he supposes he doesn’t know what he expects or wants to hear from her. The fact that she even told him she believed he meant it, when he said he was sorry - that was more than he had any right to expect, in all honesty, so at this point he doesn’t know what he’s hoping for.

He makes his way back to the lift, down to the level Ahsoka told him and wanders around a bit before he figures out where he’s going - he has no idea if anyone’s put together that they should follow him, yet, if he should be being more careful. No one will remember just another clone, he hopes. Doesn’t seem like too much to hope for, anyway, people are great at that most of the time.

The street Ahsoka gave him isn’t really a  _ street, _ unless Rex is being charitable, which he doesn’t really want to be today - it’s not quite an alley, either, but the cracked paving and the buildings that list over the street like they’re going to crash into each other don’t really make it seem inviting. Rex settles his hands on his DCs as he turns the corner and comes to a wary stop, looking around. Kriff, this is why he hates Coruscant. If you aren’t rich or influential, you get to live down  _ here _ where everything smells like someone just threw up.

He glances around him again, and with barely a rustle of sound, Ahsoka fades out of a shadowy archway by the door to a junk shop, adjusting a long, sweeping brown cloak around her shoulders and face. She looks tired, Rex thinks - maybe even scared. He nods at her, controlled, drops his hands away from his blaster.

“Tano,” he says, meets her eyes. She’s always so easy to read, but at the moment she’s partly closed off to him. It feels strange.

“So we’re back to that again,” she answers, tiredly, and Rex shrugs slightly.

“Do you have a better idea?” He at least has sense enough to know he can’t just pretend everything’s  _ normal. _

Ahsoka sighs. “I still like it when you use my name.” Before Rex can think how to respond to that, she shakes her head as if dismissing the topic, and says, “Anyway, I wasn’t followed, but they know I broke out.”

“Damn it. Well, that was bound to happen anyway. So far as I know, the only person who- knows I did anything is Cody, so nobody’s looking for me either.” Although the possibility of some of the 501st getting it into their heads to suspect him and come  _ find _ him is distinctly real and concerning. Rex crosses his arms, sighs. “We probably don’t have much of a window to work with before we’ll have to lay low.”

~~~

Ahsoka sighs and nods, crossing her arms. “Fives and Jesse are probably already looking for you,” she admits, tiredly. Forces herself not to think about the dead trooper or about  _ Barriss _ or- or any of it. “If I comm them, I might be able to talk them down.” Probably. “And if I explain to them what’s going on, they might be able to help.”

“It could be an advantage,” Rex says, reluctantly, sighs. ‘It’s obviously up to you.”

“There should be a public holobooth near here,” she says, “and Anakin’s taught me enough tricks I can get into it and make untraceable calls.” 

… Anakin’s not going to be handling this well.

“Speaking of Anakin,” she adds, “before we go anywhere I should contact  _ him _ too.”

“Alright,” he says, with a nod, and Ahsoka steps back into the doorway she’s been waiting in, closes her eyes and reaches out.

_ Anakin? _

He responds so fast it almost echoes.  _ Ahsoka! What the kriff is going on, they’re saying you broke out and killed two troopers, I’ve been ordered to search for you and bring you in. Also Jesse said something about “needing to kill” someone. _

She can’t quite suppress the cringe.  _ Things are… complicated, Anakin. I’m being framed. I know who’s doing it - no, I can’t tell you why or how I know that - but I don’t have proof. That’s why I broke out. I need you to trust me, and try and stall the Guard as long as you can. _

_ Ahsoka… I don’t know if I can.  _

_ What? _ That doesn’t make  _ sense, _ the Council should at least be able to stall for time, if Anakin explains the basics to them.  _ Why not? _

_ Because- _ Anakin stops for a moment, and she can feel him gathering his thoughts, feels an impression like a tired sigh.  _ Tarkin came and told the Council that he and whichever other idiots are investigating this have gone from suspecting you were an accomplice in Ao’s terrorism to believing you organized the entire thing yourself and that she was  _ **_your_ ** _ unwilling accomplice. _

“Shit,” she mutters, aloud, leans back against the doorway more.  _ That’s- not good. What does the Council think? _

_ They’re split on it - Obi-Wan, Master Plo, and Master Secura support you, but half the Council is listening to Tarkin if only because there’s no better explanation. Look, Ahsoka, if I knew  _ **_why_ ** _ all this was happening, I could explain it to the Council. _

Ahsoka sighs, rubs at her forehead. “Rex,” she says, “Anakin’s asking for an explanation so he can talk to the Council. Can I give him one?”

Rex is quiet for a minute, staring down at his feet. “No,” he says, tiredly, “I told you, the Council can’t know.”

It’s the answer she’d expected, but it still makes her draw in an exhausted huff. “Alright.”  _ I’m sorry, Anakin, but I can’t tell you. _

_ Why not? What are you involved in? _ Her Master sounds frustrated and worried, and she can picture him shoving one hand through his hair and pacing a hole in the floor of wherever he is.

_ I’m trying to prove my innocence, Master, that’s all I can tell you.  _

_ That’s not good enough, Ahsoka.  _

Ahsoka grits her teeth.  _ It’s all I can tell you. Please try to stall the GAR as long as you can.  _

Anakin’s response is a tangle of frustration before shields drop over his end of the bond, and she lets out a sigh, swears under her breath. “We need to talk to Jesse,” she declares after a minute, and steps out of the shadows again. 

“Alright,” Rex says, then grimaces. “I’m sure that will be fun.”

“I’m sure.” She sighs and starts off down the alley, making for the dim blue glow of a public holobooth in the distance, slipping in and out of the shadows and keeping her head down and shoulders slumped. With the hood of her newly-acquired cloak up and hiding her face, she can pass for just another poor lost soul - unless someone looks too closely at the expense and condition of the cloak, or notices the lightsaber hilts barely visible.

Still, this should be fine.

When she and Rex get down to the holobooth, she crouches down and starts pulling on wires, tweaks the connection until she’s relatively sure it’s untraceable, pushes back to her feet and leans on the booth and enters Jesse’s comm number.

The moment Jesse sees her face he jolts a bit, eyes going wide.  _ “Commander! What the kriff, we’ve been so worried. Fox put out an APB for you, we’re supposed to hunt you down - he’s saying you killed brothers.”  _ A pause, and then he swears and adds,  _ “Also, your  _ **_friend_ ** _ Rex mysteriously vanished, I think this is his fault.” _

Ahsoka rubs at her forehead and sighs. “It’s not- well, it’s mostly not, so please be nice. We’re trying to find a way to prove my innocence - I know who did it and how, and how they’re framing me, but I have to find proof.”

_ “We?” _ Jesse says, and she cringes just a bit.  _ “I am not going to be  _ **_nice_ ** _ to a-” _ and here he cuts off into Mando’a, a muttered stream of words she can’t pick out.  _ “The next time I see him I’m going to-” _

“No, you’re not,” Ahsoka says, firmly. “And that’s an order.”

_ “Something-something creatively interpreting orders,” _ Jesse mutters under his breath, and she raises an eyebrow. 

“No interpreting this one, Jesse.” She sighs, stares at him a moment longer until he nods a bit, jerky, and then continues. “I need to know what’s going on, what people are thinking.”

_ “Well, sir, Tarkin’s got a bunch of people convinced you masterminded this whole thing, and General Skywalker says he’s trying to get the Council to give you to the GAR for a military trial.” _

“What?” Ahsoka just stares, for a moment, then swears under her breath. “They wouldn’t do that.”

_ “That’s what we’re hoping, sir, but the General is worried. He told me we have to find you as soon as possible so you can talk to the Council yourself.” _

“I can’t do that yet,” she says. “Not until I find proof. Anakin said half the Council seems to believe Tarkin’s interpretation of events, so I can’t just show up looking guilty as hells with no proof and asking them to investigate another Jedi.”

Jesse groans.  _ “Hells. Alright, sir, I’ll see if I can stall any. What areas should I avoid?” _

“The lower levels near the base they had me in, for now,” she says. “I need you to look into something for me, too.”

_ “Sure, sir.” _

“Can you see if anyone’s requisitioned nanodroids recently?”

_ “Yeah, although I thought you said-” _

“I do know who did it and how they got the droids. But a lack of requisition orders at least proves I didn’t plant them.”

_ “I guess that makes sense,” _ Jesse says, nodding.  _ “Alright, sir, I’ll see what I can do. Just-”  _ he hesitates a moment.  _ “Be careful, vod’ika.” _

“I will be.”

_ “Is Rex there with you? I have something to tell him.” _

She glances over at Rex, grimacing a bit - he shakes his head, almost imperceptibly, and she turns back to the holobooth, opens her mouth to tell Jesse  _ no. _

_ “That’s a yes,” _ he says, crosses his arms.  _ “Rex, you better listen very closely,” _ and once again he shifts into Mando’a. There’s a couple familiar bits in the sentence or two he says, but not enough for her to piece together a meaning -  _ Force, _ she hopes he’s not just being insulting again.  _ “We clear?” _

“Understood,” Rex says, flatly, and Jesse nods at Ahsoka.

_ “Good luck.” _

The holo fades away, then, as Jesse breaks the connection off, and Ahsoka rubs at her eyes and tries not to feel like this is all spiraling out of control.


End file.
